In the Beginning
by Spontaneous.Combustion99
Summary: Casey Wilson just moved to Ipswich with her family, and encounters the Sons. Casey knows one of them already, and is hiding something, even from her family. Can they help each other, before it's too late? Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**OKAY! so this is my story At the Beginning!...the recunstructed one anyway...**

**now, if you've already read the chapters i did have up, you still need to read this. i made some changes so this story is a little more interesting, and i have something to do after... anywho!**

**im sorry if you hate me for not updating, and then reconstructing things, but i couldn't go anywhere with the other version...**

**so...read and review?**

**Disclaimer:...i own nothing but my characters...and my dreams of the boys :)**

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"Shit!" I all but yelled as I dropped my box of books on my foot, successfully dumping them all on the floor. I didn't _mean_ to, I really didn't. It's just that I walked into the room that was deemed mine, and was too shocked to hold onto the heavy box.

Pink.

That is the colour on the walls. And it isn't even the kind of pink that has a whole bunch of different colours in it. No. It was Pepto Bismol pink. And for the record, I _greatly_ dislike pink.

The names of different colours drifted through my head as I thought about how to redecorate my room. As I sat on my bed, the door opened to reveal my older brother Alex, and younger sister Brittany.

Alex took a quick look around at my room. It was small, smaller than the other four, with two windows side-by-side, and a nice sized window seat, right across the from the bedroom door (my only problem with the room was the colour, even the window seat cushion was pink!).

He smirked before turning to look at me. "Wow, Casey. Can I have you room?" he asked innocently. He was an odd one he was. At 6'2", he had messy black hair, sapphire blue eyes, high cheekbones and slightly pointed chin, and the favourite colour pink. I wondered sometimes if he were gay, but he has had a few girlfriends, so I knew he wasn't.

"Hah! In your dreams Alex!" me and Brittany did a really good job of teasing him about his favourite colour. "Besides," I said as I started piling the books that I dropped back into the box, "you have way too much stuff. You wouldn't be able to fit half of it in here."

Both Brittany and Alex started chuckling at that. "She has a point Alex. Besides, you and I need to start unpacking our things, so lets stop bugging Casey."

Brittany was average looking, with long black hair to the middle of her back, perfect cheekbones and a slightly rounded jaw, with pretty ice blue eyes. She was an average height of 5'5", and looked exactly like me.

You see, myself Brittany and Alex were all born about 4 minutes apart, successfully making us triplets. We were born in London, England 17 years ago on November 15 to John and Sandra Wilson, as Alexander Jonathon Wilson, Samantha Casey Wilson (I only let one person call me Sam, and that's my dad), and Brittany Aubrey Wilson .

Not even one year after we were born, our parents packed us up and moved us away to Nova Scotia, Canada. We lived until we were 10, and then we moved to Ontario, Canada, and now Ipswich, Massachusetts.

They left the room, and I started to set all of my things up off of the walls, and made sure to leave my painting supplies near the door. I would kill someone if my room was left pink for too long.

Over the next few days, we unpacked everything in the house, and (_finally_) painted my room several different shades of blue, all mixed together. We also painted Brittany's and Alex's rooms black. They both had a thing with putting huge blotches of bright colours over the black.

It was currently Sunday, and tomorrow morning me and my siblings were going to be starting at the famous Spencer Academy. See, even though our family moved around a bit, we had money. Lots of it.

Before bed that night I experienced the luxury of having my own private bathroom, with a Jacuzzi tub. A nice hour and a half long bath and I was sleeping peacefully under my covers.

The next morning I woke at 5:30, anticipation tight in my stomach. As I listened, I heard both my brother and sister moving around as well.

I went into my bathroom and washed my face before going downstairs to grab a quick bite to eat. I wasn't surprised to see Alex and Britt grabbing granola bars or cereal. It often happened that we would wake within 10 minutes of each other. Call it a triplets sense, if you will.

I returned to my bedroom and began curling my black hair and straightening my bangs. I quickly brushed my teeth and changed into my uniform. I disliked uniforms, especially this one because it looks like I was picked out by a blind nun.

I was just putting on a thin layer of eyeliner when there came a knock at my door. "Come in Alex." I knew that it was him because Britt was either busy doing her makeup or brushing her teeth.

I heard my door open and then saw Alex lean up against the bathroom door frame. As he watched me he smirked. I knew that look.

"What?" knowing my luck he was going to say something along the lines of 'if anyone bugs you today, just tell me and I'll make them back off', or something like that anyways.

His smile just widened a bit before saying, "Nothing. I just though you might want to know that I've heard about a few guys at Spencer that are complete ass holes."

Woohoo! Go brain! "Oh. Okay. You know you don't have to worry about me. I could knock any one of them flat." I said with a small smirk.

I finished with my makeup and reached over and selected a pair of gold hoops and put them in. Then I reached over and grabbed my locket off of the hook. This locket was my baby. When we were born, each one of us got a similar locket that had a picture of mom and dad in one side, and a picture of the three of us as babies in the other side.

We never went anywhere without them.

Just to be completely sure, I glanced at Alex in the mirror and, sure enough, I saw the chain of the locket at either sides of his neck.

I walked back into my bedroom and just as I rechecked my hair in the mirror, Britt walked in my room.

The one thing I loved about Brittany; she always seemed to know how I was going to have my hair for a certain day. For example, today my hair was lightly curled, and her hair was pin straight.

After grabbing our bags from our bedrooms, we walked out to the garage together.

We each had our own cars. Mine was a black 1967 Chevrolet Impala, Brittany's was a dark purple Pontiac Sunfire, and Alex's was a black 2007 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG.

Most of the time we took Alex's car when going places. It was a little more inconspicuous than my Impala.

When we arrived at the academy we all went in search of our classes, and since we all had the same classes, it was quite easy.

Between classes, watching girls ogle over Alex, and laughing at guys ogling over the two of us, Brittany and I made our way to the parking lot with Alex. That was when we saw them.

The Sons of Ipswich.

The four of them were around a black hummer, two of them leaning against it. Of the two leaning against the hulking truck, one was a blonde, and the other one was a brunette. Another brunette was standing a few feet away, and another leaning up against a yellow motorbike.

Mr. Motorbike had a dark skinned girl leaning up against him.

As Brittany, me, and Alex looked at the 5 people, another girl joined them.

She was a blonde, with a nice figure. As she was walking over she must have seen us because she said something to the standing brunette, and all 6 of the people turned and looked at me and my siblings.

We were at Alex's car now, and as he slipped into the front seat, Brittany into the passenger seat, I stared at the Son that was leaning against drivers door.

He was tall, right around 5'10", with spiky brown hair. Even from a distance, I knew that his eyes were a gorgeous cerulean blue, and that his finely muscled body was perfectly proportioned. I also knew that at this very moment, he was remembering the exact same thing that I was remembering.

"Casey? Casey!" My head snapped toward Brittany's voice, she had rolled down the window and her head was sticking out. She looked kind of confused.

I was slightly irritated. "What?"

"Are you getting in or what Casey?" then Alex spoke.

After one quick glance back at the youngest Son, I mumbled a quick "Yea, I'm coming." and climbed into the back of my brothers Mercedes-Benz.

As we drove out of the parking lot, I couldn't keep my eyes off of the four Sons. And the same went for them.

Getting back into our garage, I did my best to climb out of the car and run into the house as fast as I could. But my siblings had other ideas, and caught my arm, spinning me around to face them.

"What the hell was that about Casey?" Alex demanded. He didn't like being left out of things.

"What are you talking about Alex?" I didn't want him knowing. The reason being that what I had done had resulted in our family moving to Ipswich.

"Don't lie to me Samantha!" he only called me Samantha when he was ticked off. "Why were you and that one Son staring at each other?"

"I still don't know what your talking about Alex. Now leave me alone or I'll send Aurora after you while you sleep!"

Alex paled a little at the sound of my three year old albino Burmese python's name, and released my arm. He knew that I wasn't bluffing.

I walked to my bedroom and dumped my backpack inside the door, and then continued to the largest of the 5 bedrooms. What lay inside that bedroom, was my beautiful 11 foot, albino Burmese python Aurora. I had gotten her when I was 6 years old, and she only really trusted me.

Also in that bedroom, was my sisters lizards, Georgia and Jeff, and my brothers two turtles, Sandy and Jack.

I walked over to Aurora, and let her slither up my body, so that she was very loosely wrapped around my neck, her head resting on my shoulder.

I stood there for a good five minutes, lightly stroking her head. I heard the front door open and close.

A minute later, my mother called up the stairs, "Samantha! Come downstairs. We need to talk."

I walked down the stairs, with Aurora still wrapped around me. A swift thought passed through my mind about how I was walking down the stairs with a full grown 11-foot, albino Burmese python that weighed over 100 pounds, wrapped around my body. I was strong.

I reached the kitchen, and my mother told me to follow her down to the basement. I did, because I knew not to argue with my mother.

I walked down the rickety old steps, slightly concerned about them breaking considering there was over 300 pounds on them all at once (my mother included).

We reached the bottom of the stairs and continued to our seats.

Our basement was what we called the conference room. There was a seat for each member of the family.

I took my seat in between Alex and Brittany, and looked at my mother.

"Okay. Samantha, you need to tell them." my dad was looking at me sympathetically.

My mom and dad were the only two people who new, aside from myself, why we so suddenly moved to Ipswich.

"Tell us what?" Alex and Brittany asked at the exact same time.

I sighed. "I have met the youngest of the Sons of Ipswich."

Alex and Brittany's eyes went wide with shock. "What? How?"

I sighed, and began telling them the story, as the entire experience flashed through my mind once again.

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**See! i molded the first 2 (?) chappys together...ill put up chapter 2 on either Friday or Saturday.**

**please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I am SOOO sorry. i meant to post this on Saturday, but i totally forgot. i was on my lunch today and i opened up one of the other stories i read and i was just like 'oh shite!'... i know its no excuse, but i hope you will forgive me? pwease?**

**Disclaimer: I only own any characters not recognized.**

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I just finished arguing with Brittany and Alex. Another sibling war. This is usually how it works: I do something and Brittany gets pissed and yells at me, I yell back, then Alex comes over and ask's what happened, and Brittany tells him, only over exaggerating, he yells at me, and I yell back.

These usually end in me stomping to my bedroom while yelling, "Leave me the hell alone!"

But this time, I went straight to my closet, pulling out black short-shorts, and a dark purple tube top, with star designs. I changed and put on a pair of black flats, curled my hair, and did my makeup.

I climbed out my second-story bedroom window, with my keys in my hand, and onto the garage roof. After making sure no one was in there, I went into the garage, slipped into my car, hit the button to open the garage door, threw the car in gear, and just as the door was high enough, I sped out of there. I didn't even bother to close the door.

I _finally_ reached my destination after five minutes of driving: Cascades.

Cascades Bar and Grill was the best around. I admit, it didn't look like much, but minors enjoyed the hangovers every now and again.

I walked in and went straight to the bar. Chris looked up, saw me, and smiled. She was like that cool big sister that will actually let you drink. You just have to be able to afford it.

Chris has long red hair that was usually pulled into a thick braid, to keep it out of her face. She has a really pretty face, and piercing green eyes that could get anything out of you. Although she wasn't a guy, nobody messed with her. She had this tendency to go and grab her shotgun (not loaded) if a fight breaks out. People learned to not get in fights _in _the bar, they usually go outside so they don't have an angry redhead after them.

"Hey C!" she smiled. She had started calling me C instead of Casey right after I punched her cousin in the face for trying to feel me up.

"Hey Chris!" I said with a smile.

"Another argument with the Terrible Two?" she asked with a small smirk. We called them the Terrible Two because they thought more alike than I did with either of them. I nodded and she continued talking. "Well that stinks. What can I get you for today?"

I sighed and said, "A sprite and fries?" she nodded and walked off to get me my things.

She came back with my food and drink, a minute later and I handed her a twenty. "Keep the change Chris." I smiled and took off toward the pool tables.

I smiled at Kevin. He was 5'3", skinny, but ripped. He was my best friend, and was gay. "Hey Kev. Waiting on Ben?" Ben was Kevin's boyfriend and pool partner. Kevin was standing at Kyle and Devon's pool table. Kyle and Devon had challenged Kevin last week for a match.

Kevin nodded, "But he isn't here yet."

Kyle snorted, "Yeah, and if he doesn't get here then your gunna hafta fork over his money along with yours."

"I'll take Ben's spot." I said quickly. "It's been awhile since I kicked your ass Kyle." I said it with a smirk.

Ten minutes later Kyle and Devon were handing over a twenty each.

I smirked as I took Devon's. "Thank you." I gave Kevin a kiss on the cheek before walking back to the bar.

I ordered another sprite. As I waited, I looked around the bar. I knew everyone in there. Sandy Johnson was dancing with her girlfriends by the jukebox, Matt Porter was making out with his girlfriend in the corner, and Emilee 'The Slut' Bernard was grinding with her new conquest for the day.

As I was getting ready to turn back around, I saw the door open and watched to see who would walk in.

It was a guy, probably 18, with dark brown hair, that was cropped, and in a kinda spiky style. He had a cute face, and from where I was, he knew how to use a belt properly, unlike 99% of the guys standing in the bar right now.

I turned around and grabbed my sprite from Chris, who had also noticed the new kid. "You should go introduce yourself to him." she said, knowing I had already seen him.

"Why should I do that?" I already new the answer but asked it anyway.

"Because you and the Terrible Two make up the welcoming committee! You always get to know a newbie right away!"

I glared at her, "Yea well, Alex and Britt aren't here right now. So my answer is _no_."

Just as I finished my sprite, and turned around, I saw the newbie making his way over to Kyle and Devon's pool table. "Uh-oh."

I slid off of the bar stool and went to the pool tables.

I got there just in time to hear the newbie say to Kyle, "Hey. Can I play?"

As a general rule around here, no one challenged Kyle and Devon to pool. They challenged you. And with them losing not twenty minutes beforehand, they were going to rip this kids head off.

Kyle smirked, "And why would I want to play against a dumb-ass loser like you?"

"Leave him alone Kyle." I stepped in. "All he asked was if you wanted a game. Nothing more." I turned to the new guy and held out my hand. "Casey Wilson."

He shook my hand. "Tyler Simms."

"Awe! Isn't that cute! The whore is getting herself a new customer!" Kyle, the idiot, said this.

I froze, anger spreading through me so quickly, it was like snake venom. The only reason he called me a whore is because I kept telling him that I didn't want to date him.

I was about to retaliate by yelling at him (maybe put an imprint of my fist in his face), when Tyler stepped in, anger dominant in his voice. "Apologize. Now." he sounded really pissed, while I was shocked. I mean, this guy doesn't even know me and he's telling them to apologize to me.

Kyle scoffed, "Why should I?"

"I said, _apologize_!" anger was obvious in the way Tyler held himself.

Kyle got all up in Tyler's face. "Wanna talk to me in that tone of voice, eh?" he shoved Tyler backward, causing Tyler's head to hit off the wall.

Chris walked over, her shotgun in her hands "Take this outside. Now!" I told you she didn't like fights in her bar.

Kyle moved to the door, and Devon made sure Tyler followed. Much to Chris's dismay, I followed the three of them outside.

The moment I stepped outside, I noticed about twenty garter snakes near the building. _They might come in handy_, I thought.

Kyle had Tyler by the collar of his shirt, and Tyler shoved Kyle away from him. Shock washed over Kyle's and Devon's faces as they realized what had just happened. Kyle brought his fist back and...

I was in-front of Tyler, and I caught Kyle's fist in my hand, squeezing hard on his hand, before throwing it backwards.

"Oh! Look! The little slut doesn't want her fucking toy messed with!" Devon, and Kyle spoke at the same time.

That was the last straw for me. The twenty or so garter snakes immediately slithered to me, up my legs, and arms. Kyle's face paled, and Devon's eyes bugged out.

I stepped forward, pushing Kyle's chest with my finger, causing him to step back. "Just because someone asks for a game of pool, doesn't mean you can insult them like that." I spoke quietly, but it was filled with rage. "And do _not_ call people slut's and whore's just because they wont sleep with you. If you _ever_ call me a slut, or a whore again, you will wish you were never born." The threat was quiet, but very intimidating. Kyle stumbled back a bit, terrified by the look in my blue eyes. "Now leave before I beat the shit out of you."

Devon and Kyle were gone in the blink of an eye.

I took several deep, calming breaths, then turned to face Tyler. I could feel the garter snakes slithering down my body, and away from the spot we were standing at.

Tyler's pretty blue eyes were wide. He was still shocked about the snakes.

The next words he said branded themselves into my mind instantaneously. "Your of the Phoenix?"

My eyes flew wide open, and my breathing stopped.

_Did I just hear him right_, I thought to myself. _There is no way he just said what I thought he just said. He can't know who the Phoenix are. But I'm sure that's what I heard him say._

I was staring at the gorgeous boy standing not five feet away from me, with I shocked look on my face. "What?" I asked it as if he had made a little joke, with a small hysterical laugh on the end.

"You're of the Phoenix. Right?"

I could've puked. I glanced around to make sure that no one was around before grabbing his hand and pulling him quickly into the small forest beside the bar.

He was about to yell out but I slapped my hand over his mouth, to shut him up. After five minutes of walking, we arrived at my destination, a small shack that most teens used as a spot to drink, or do pot, or do both. Or have sex... well _that's_ a comforting thought.

I led him inside, my hand still over his mouth. I looked at him, and said quietly, "If I move my hand, will you yell?"

He shook his head in response.

"Okay." I moved my hand from his mouth, while thinking how I probably would have suffocated if someone had there hand over my mouth. I had trouble breathing through my nose alone. Well, when I had to anyway. I tended to panic.

"How do you know about me?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Well, my ancestors are from England, and they left journals. My ancestor Jonathon Simms wrote a journal, about life in England before he fled to Massachusetts. I've read it a few times. It told a lot about the "Phoenix" families. Families, although not related by blood, that can control a certain type of animal. Like birds, amphibians, canines, felines, and reptiles. Things like that."

"I can't control them." I snapped. Him using that term pissed me off. "I talk to them, through my mind. I _ask_ them to do things for me. If they don't want to, they can just ignore me."

"So you don't deny it?" he looked a bit surprised. He probably thought I was going to deny it whole-heartedly.

"Yeah, well. I didn't really see the point in denying it when you would probably get me to say it anyway." I sighed. "You can _not _tell _anyone_. Okay? Me and my family cannot risk exposure again. It happened once before, and it did not turn out well."

"Oh, okay." Tyler seemed to accept that. Then he got an odd look on his face. "What about those other two guys? They saw the snakes."

I froze, terrified. "Oh SHIT! This is _sooo _not good! They're gonna kill me! And what's worse is that Kyle's and Devon's families are into the whole burning witches at the stake." I kept on rambling on and on about what their families would do. That is, until Tyler grabbed my hand and pulled me down to sit next to me.

When his skin touched me, a shot of electricity went through my body. I pushed the feeling that came with it away. "Hey. Listen to me. Would they have gotten home yet?" as he asked the question I started nodding. But as I went to start talking, he put his hand against my mouth, silencing me. "Okay. What you need to do, is go home, and tell your parents, right away."

Now I did protest. I roughly moved his hand from my mouth and practically yelled at him. "I can't do that! I'll be murdered! They'll all kill me! I won't li –"

I was cut off by his hand covering my mouth. Again. "Shut up and listen to me!" I nodded silently. Not much choice anyway. "Go and tell your parents. Get out of here. Move away."

I sighed. Tears started to fill my eyes. "But I don't want to move. What about all of my friends." I was almost sobbing.

Tyler hugged me, and I stiffened a bit before relaxing into his arms. _That's _when I started sobbing. During the five minutes I was in his arms, I thought about how stupid I was, crying in the arms of a guy I barely know. I mean _gawd_! He knows more about me than I do about him.

I pulled away from him and wiped my face, smiling glumly at him. "Sorry. But thanks."

He smiled at me, and I noticed how cute his dimples made him. "No problem. Now you should go. Okay? Tell them everything." he ordered.

I nodded and led him back to Cascades. I turned and faced him before getting in my Impala. "If you live in the States, then why are you here in Canada?"

His smile widened a little bit. "My mom has family up here, we're visiting because my grandmother is sick. She's not doing well."

"Oh. I'm sorry." I kinda felt rude now.

"Yeah. But you don't have to apologize. Not to be insensitive or anything, but she was never really nice to me. And she barely even knows me."

"Oh. How long are you going to be in town?" Okay, I know I just met him, but he was seriously cute, and I kinda liked him. Especially his dimples (heehee :) ).

He smirked, but it wasn't a dimple smile. Awe :(. "Just this week. Just long enough to say goodbye."

I am soo stupid. "Oh. Do you wanna hang out again? Before you leave?"

There were the dimples. "Yeah. Sure. When and where?"

I smiled, showing my teeth. "Well, I think we should steer clear of the bar. So how about the shack again? We have a lot to discuss anyway." my last sentence was very serious.

He smiled again. "Alright. Noon?"

I nodded, "Sure. See you tomorrow." I said as I got into my car, and drove away.

I couldn't get a certain blue eyed boy out of my head the entire ride home.

I pulled into the garage, and the happy thoughts were gone. Bye-bye happiness.

I walked into the house and immediately saw my mom and dad in the kitchen.

They glanced up at me, and continued what they were doing. It was normal that when me Britt and Alex got in a fight, I took off and usually returned late at night. I glanced at my watch and realized that it was already three am.

What wasn't normal was me staying in the kitchen longer than three seconds. They didn't even notice I was still in there until I said, "Mom? Dad?" They looked at me, curious. "Can I talk to you guys? Privately?"

They looked at me kinda funny, not grasping my meaning

"Downstairs?" I said with a little more force.

Realizing my meaning, they nodded.

We made our way over to the staircase. Brittany and Alex were probably asleep, but I didn't want to chance it.

The three of us made our way down too the basement, our place of meetings, and my mom locked the door behind us.

When we settled down, my mom spoke, "What was it you wanted to talk to us about honey?"

I took a deep breath. "Well..."

And I told them. Everything. Okay not _everything_, but almost everything.

When I was finished, they were very thoughtful. My parents knew Kyle's and Devon's parents. They often talked about witches and things of the sort, much to my parents distaste. But they put up with it.

Mom sighed. "We had better tell the other two in the morning." I nearly screamed.

"What? You can't tell them about this! They'll rip my head off!"

My dad spoke now. "We _meant_, tell them to start packing. We are going to be moving in two weeks. We can't let this get out of control, like it did last time."

I knew exactly what he meant. When we lived in Nova Scotia, it was small town with a major prejudice against witches, and we were found out. We had to make a major run for it. I was almost burned at the stake for witchcraft. For some reason, it was always me that messed things up.

I nodded. "Okay. Well go to bed sweety. You need to pack your things too." my mom was the nicest woman ever.

I smiled and went to my room.

I lay in a restless sleep, dreaming about the witch burnings that took place in the 1600's.

In the morning, mom and dad told Alex, and Britt that we were moving. Only they twisted it and said that they had been planning it for awhile. Britt and Alex nodded and went to go start packing. I did too. I got most of my trinkets packed, when I looked at the clock. Twenty to twelve.

I got up and went downstairs, grabbing my keys.

My parents watched me leave. They probably thought that I blamed myself for what happened, which I did, but they probably thought that I just wanted to wallow.

I drove to the edge of the forest, and parked a few minutes away from the bar. I got out and made my way into the trees.

A few minutes later I made it to the shack, and went in. Tyler was sitting there, waiting for me.

He smiled his breathtaking smile (with dimples!). I could barely smile in return.

We talked for a few hours, about everything that has happened in the past fourteen hours.

At three o'clock, we said our goodbye's and agreed to meet again the next day, same time, same place. He told me about him being a warlock. It didn't creep me out or anything, 'cause I mean, jeez I can talk to snakes. But I could tell he hadn't told anyone before. I still liked him for who he was though.

This continued for the next 4 days.

On the fifth day, we just talked. About nothing, but everything at the same time.

It was three o'clock, and we were getting ready to say goodbye.

We were at the edge of the woods when we stopped and just looked at each other.

"Sooo..." I dragged it out a little bit.

He smiled a little bit. "So."

"Look–" I started to say something, but I was interrupted by Tyler's lips crashing into mine.

The kiss was soft and sweet. It sent electric shocks through my body, and I felt like I was flying. His hands were on my waist, and my hands found their way to the back of his neck, my one hand twisting in his hair. Of course during this a big part of my mind was doing a happy dance in the back of my head.

We broke apart, gasping for breath.

He smiled my favourite dimpling smile at me. I smiled back.

We hugged each other and went back to our cars, after a quick agreement that we would meet for a few minutes at eight o'clock the next morning near his grandma's place. To say goodbye.

I slept well that night. Dreams about a blue eyed boy with dimples.

The next morning, I arrived at the place we had set up to say goodbye at ten to eight.

I waited, and waited. I looked at my watch again, and it read back to me nine o'clock.

I felt my heart breaking as I looked up and saw the familiar black hummer driving up the road, with out slowing down at all.

After going back home, I went into my bedroom, and cried.

A week later we all finishing packing and me and my family packed everything into our cars, and headed for the states.

My mom had her connections, and she had to call in a favor to move to a nice place. Of course, her connections were in England, but they knew great places to go to live in safety.

We drove for six hours before pulling over to grab a bite to eat. Another three hours later and we arrived at the sign on the outskirts of town, the sign said; Welcome to Ipswich, Massachusetts.

A good half hour later, we were all unpacking our things from our cars. Of course me, Alex, and Brittany unloaded our pets first. Me, my snake Aurora, Alex's turtles, Sandy and Jack, and Brittany's lizards, Georgia and Jeff.

Later that day my mom and dad told the three of us that we were enrolled at Spencer Academy. And then my mom and dad warned us about something.

"There are 4 boys that go to Spencer, and they are warlocks. Their names are Caleb Danvers, Pouge Perry, Reid Garwin, and Tyler Simms. Be careful."

I masked my expression into one of nonchalance, but inside I was angry as hell. You see, I never told my parents any names. I just told them that I helped out this guy that was about to get his ass kicked.

Also, Tyler had never told me where exactly he lived, sure he had said Massachusetts, but he didn't say Ipswich. Also he didn't say which school he went to. The only thing he _did_ tell me, was his friends names.

As I carried that box of books into my new bedroom, and I saw the colour of the walls, I just knew that my first couple of weeks in Ipswich were going to be total hell.

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**Review? Please?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay...i know, im a B****...ive been neglecting you, to be honest, i just keep forgetting.**

**All of my friends could tell you i have a crappy memory.**

**Soo... in turn, i am going to be putting up two chappies!**

**so i hope you will read, review, and like this!**

**thank you!**

**Disclaimer: I own NUFFING!**

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Alex and Brittany were staring at me with wide eyes.

I didn't tell them everything. I told them what I told mom and dad, only I added Tyler's name (I hadn't told my parents about me going to meet up with Tyler after the night at the bar, so they were a little surprised).

The reason my mom and dad knew that it was Tyler at the bar was because I pulled them aside the day before and told them. My mom had felt bad about moving us here, but she said that she couldn't back out now, they already had the house, and she had to go through a lot of arguing to get it.

I looked back at my two siblings. The look on their faces made it clear that I was right when I had assumed that they were going to be pissed.

The look on their faces were pure rage.

"WHAT!" they had both started yelling at the exact same time. They were weird like that, they were more alike with each other than with me. "YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT I HAD TO LEAVE ALL OF MY FRIENDS BECAUSE YOU MESSED UP _AGAIN_? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE WELL ENOUGH ALONE!"

I put my head in my hands and sat there, silent, as they ranted and raved about me always screwing things up.

After a minute I stood up abruptly, cutting them off in the middle of their rant. "Sorry for always fucking things up!" I snapped.

I quickly walked up the stairs, slamming the door as I left the basement. Aurora was slightly pissed off because of them yelling.

I went into my bedroom, and as I sat down on my bed, Aurora wound around me until she was coiled on the bed beside me. I lay down and stare at my ceiling, going through the rest of my time with Tyler. Just thinking about it made my heart hurt.

After a few hours of just laying on my bed, I got up and put Aurora back in her room, when I heard my mom call me down for supper.

We ate in silence, and after supper I went straight to my bedroom, and stayed there for the rest of the night.

That was the first night, since he left, that I dreamt of Tyler Simms. I woke up bawling my eyes out, feeling like he left all over again.

The next morning, I woke up at 6:30.

After showering, changing, and pulling my hair into a high ponytail, I went downstairs with my backpack over my shoulder and grabbed a quick bite to eat. I didn't put any eyeliner on. I just wasn't in the mood for dressing up today.

I ignored Alex and Brittany as I walked out into the garage. I pulled my keys out of my bag and climbed into my car. I could not drive into school with my siblings after they yelled at me like that.

I reached the school parking lot and just sat there for a bit.

At eight o'clock I climbed out of my car and went into the school. I saw Britt and Alex walking to class, but ignored them.

I walked into English, and sat on the other side of the room, as far away from my brother and sister as was possible.

Even though we had only been there for a day, the students of Spencer Academy noticed that something was going on between me and my siblings. Every day that week I would show up in my Impala, and Alex and Britt would show up in my brothers Mercedes-Benz.

After school on Friday, I went to the swim practice and talked to the coach about me possibly joining the team.

As I walked in, the first thing I noticed, was the Sons of Ipswich. Reid, whom I've profiled as the blonde with blue eyes, was leaning against the bar thing wearing sweat pants over his Speedo-shorts. Tyler was standing just to his left, Pogue beside him, and Caleb on the end.

They were all looking at me as I made my way over to the coach.

After a few minutes, he explained that Alex and Britt had both talked to him about joining the team, and that he was giving them the chance to impress him on Monday after school, and that he was willing to give me that chance as well.

I thanked him and walked out of the room, without a single glance at Tyler, or his friends.

When I got home I quickly went to my bedroom and fell face first on my bed.

I was lying on my bed for about ten minutes when my door opened. I didn't need to look to know it was Brittany and Alex.

They both let out small squeaks as Aurora slithered past them, onto my bed, and coiling up on my bed beside my head. Considering that I've had her for 11 years, Alex and Brittany never got used to Aurora being in the house.

I scratched her head with my hand as I waited for Brittany and Alex to say something. I refused to be the first to speak.

After an awkward minute Alex spoke. "Look, Case. I'm sorry about yelling at you on Monday."

"Yeah. Me too." Brittany.

"We shouldn't have freaked out on you, 'cause we mess up too."

"Yeah. We're really sorry Casey. Will you consider forgiving us?"

I was quiet for a minute. "But I thought that I always messed things up for you?" it came out muffled considering my face was in my pillow.

"We were angry." Alex said. "And we took our anger out on you. I'm sorry. I really am."

"Me too Casey. I really am sorry."

They both sounded so sincere, so I sat up on my bed to face them. Aurora fixed herself so that she was slung over my shoulder.

I looked deep in their eyes. That was my one ability, I guess you could call it. I could practically reach into a persons soul and see if they were lying.

After staring into both of their eyes for a minute, Aurora slithered off of my shoulder, and out of my room, back to hers.

I stood up, and gave them both hugs.

For the rest of the weekend we talked about the swimming trials that were to take place on Monday.

Monday came around, and everything with the three of us was smoothed over.

We all showed up in the Mercedes, and walked to class together, and I could see that the other students weren't blind to the fact that we had made up either.

At lunch the three of us went to talk to the swim coach about our bathing suits. He took us to the locker room and got us our suits. All three of us were really excited for after school.

Class went by quickly, and we were all wired. We hadn't been on a swimming team together in nearly one year. Not since I went to visit my cousin for a few months.

Oh, might I add, at our old school, I was the captain of the swim team.

The three of us walked into the room with the swimming pool, and the coach called us over before we went to change. "So, I heard that one of you were the captain of your old swim team?"

"Oh." I was kinda surprised. "Well, I was. Before I left. When I left the title was passed onto Alex."

The coach nodded, and then looked over at Alex and Britt. He nodded again. "You can go change now."

The three of us nodded, and then we made our way to the change rooms. Britt and I took about three minutes to get changed, seeing as how we had to take our makeup off, otherwise we would look like racoons after swimming.

The three of us walked out of the change rooms at the exact same time. We walked over to each other and stood off to the side. Alex and I were trying to ignore everyone's stares, but it was very difficult.

See, me and my siblings have tattoo's, Brittany's are the least noticeable. She has a tattoo of two lizards on the front of her left shoulder, to represent Georgia and Jeff. And on the back of her right shoulder is a pretty tattoo of a phoenix, to represent our heritage.

Alex's tattoo's were more dominant. On his upper right arm, he has a tattoo of an exquisite turtle. But his back is what caught people's attention. He has a very large tattoo of a phoenix on his back, the tail feathers begin on the back of his left shoulder, and the head stops just on his stomach, to the right of his belly button. But people were just a little more focused on my tattoos.

My phoenix tattoo was on my lower back, rising out of the flames, and it looks pretty cool. That isn't the one that most of the people were staring at though. On my right leg was a tattoo of a snake. It was an albino Burmese python. The tattoo began on the top of my foot, an inch away from my toes, and continued up my foot to my ankle, where it twisted around all the way. It then went up the side of my right leg, and ended with the head on my lower hip, just where my underwear would stop, if I were wearing underwear.

Everyone staring was really starting to bug me. So I did the best I could to turn so that no-one could see my tattoo.

The three of us were talking quietly with each other until coach called out, "Miss Wilson."

Me and Brittany both turned to look at the coach. He quickly corrected himself, "Miss Brittany Wilson."

Brittany got a little nervous when she looked back at me and Alex. She then turned, and walked over too the pool. Reid Garwin removed his ever so present sweat pants to reveal his blue Speedo-shorts. Alex and I gave Britt a quick thumbs up before she pulled her swim cap on over her bun.

She quickly turned to face the pool. The coach blew one quick blast on his whistle, and Reid and Brittany dived into the pool.

They were neck and neck for a little bit. Reid reached the other side first, but Britt pushed hard on the side of the pool, propelling herself in front of Reid. But Reid quickly moved several inches in front of her. They touched the end of the pool barely a second apart. Everyone began cheering. His friends helped Reid out of the pool as Alex and I helped Brittany out of the pool. She had a huge grin on her face as she took her swim cap off.

"Great job, Baby Girl!" me and Alex said at the same time. Her smile widened.

We pulled her into a hug, congratulating her on her skill.

"Mr. Wilson." the coach called. "You will swim against Mr. Parry."

Alex nodded, still smirking from his youngest sister's swimming skills.

He made his way back to the edge of the pool, pulling his cap over his hair. The coach once again blew his whistle.

Alex and Pogue were almost tied, Alex a few centimeters in front of Pogue. But then they reached the one end of the pool. Alex wasn't very quick at transition, so Pogue got in front. Alex put up a good fight, but still lost by almost a second.

Everyone was clapping and cheering as me and Brittany pulled him out of the pool. I was getting nervous now.

There were only two people that haven't swam. So I was either going against Tyler (god help me) or Caleb (kill me now).

After everyone calmed down enough, the coach said, "Miss Samantha Wilson –"

"It's Casey!" I said , interrupting him earned me a few dirty looks.

"Anyway. You will be swimming against Mr. Danvers."

I felt my stomach drop to my feet. I glanced over at the Terrible Two, and they smiled encouragingly. I took a deep breath, and stepped up too the pool.

I pulled my swim cap on over my hair. I stood there, my eyes closed taking one...two...three deep breaths. When I opened my eyes, I was ready. Just in time too.

The whistle blasted, and I dived in the pool, I was halfway across the pool before I came up for air. I had better endurance than the other two. I started kicking my legs and moving my arms to the beat of my heart. I made it to the other side of the pool, quickly doing the transition. This time I didn't quite make it to the middle of the pool, but almost. Once again I started kicking my legs and moving my arms, as fast as I could.

I heard people cheering in the back of my mind. Then I touched the side of the pool, and all of a sudden the only ones cheering were Britt and Alex. I knew why, and I was shocked.

I had tied with Caleb Danvers. The captain of the Spencer Academy swim team, the one that owned the swim just tied with some girl that has a tattoo of an albino Burmese Python on her leg.

Brittany and Alex helped me out of the pool, but my legs wouldn't hold me up. I sat down at the edge of the pool, breathing heavily. I could only handle so much staring in one day, but when the other students began whispering, it was just too much.

I shot up, and fast walked to the girls locker room. I heard Brittany say something to Alex before she followed me. As soon as I was in there I collapsed onto the bench. Brittany and Alex both knew that I had trouble handling people staring and whispering about me.

Brittany sat with me in the change room, rubbing my back gently. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered. "Why?"

"Well," she sighed. "It's just that you seem a little off of your game. You could have easily beaten him any other day."

I hesitated, before saying, "I am a little rusty though. That's probably why."

She just nodded, and we lapsed back into silence.

A few minutes later girls in swim suits began filing in.

One of the girls, she was short with long red hair, came up to me and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

I looked up into her green eyes. I smiled a little, "Yeah, I'm fine."

I stood up as she held out her hand to me. "I'm Sierra Jackson."

I shook her hand. "Casey Wilson."

She nodded. "If you don't mind me asking." she hesitated. "Why did you get up and leave so quick?"

I paused, thinking of how to put it. "I don't really like being stared at a lot, and if I am being stared at a lot, and then people start whispering about me, I tend to feel a little sick."

Sierra let that sink in for a second. "Oh. Well that's good to hear."

I gave her a funny look, and she explained further.

"Most of the people out there–" she motioned with her thumb towards the pool, "thought it was because you were upset that you lost."

"Oh. No! I was actually shocked that I tied Caleb!" I said with a smile.

She smiled back and then mumbled something about a shower.

Brittany and I glanced at each other, shrugged our shoulders, and made our way over to the showers. After a few minutes, I walked out, a fluffy white towel wrapped around my body.

I began putting my clothes on. I had my black bra on and was just finishing pulling my leggings on when Sierra came back over. "Why do you cover up your tattoo with leggings?"

I smirked at her. "I'm not sure the teachers would be very impressed if one of Spencer's students was walking around the school with a leg long snake tattoo."

She giggled. "Yeah, that makes sense. Well, see you around Casey."

I gave her a small wave as I pulled my undershirt on. When we were done dressing, Brittany and I made our way out of the change room. Alex was standing right there, like we knew he would be.

As we were making our way to the doors, we were stopped by four bodies. To be specific, they were the very toned bodies that belonged to Caleb Danvers, Pogue Parry, Reid Garwin and Tyler Simms.

Caleb looked at me, "I have never before met someone that could beat me, let alone _tie_ me, without cheating. I'm Caleb Danvers."

I was about to respond, but Alex interrupted. "Alex Wilson." he shook his hand.

I was cut off from introducing my self again, this time by Brittany. "Brittany Wilson." she said with a smile as she shook his hand.

I smiled and shook his hand, "Casey Wilson."

"Nice to meet you Casey." then all of a sudden, the other three introduced themselves.

"Pogue Parry." we each shook his hand.

"Reid Garwin." his had was shook by the three of us, and received a flirty smile from Brittany.

"I'm Tyler Simms." he held his hand out, and Alex and Brittany both shook his hand. He glanced at me, contemplating on wether or not to shake my hand, but I just turned and walked away, not sparing a glance at the boy that destroyed my heart.

I heard Alex and Brittany both mutter apologies before quickly following me.

I was just outside the building when they caught up with me. Brittany grabbed my arm lightly, and spun me around as she said, "Why the hell did you just walk away?"

Then they both saw the look on my face.

I hadn't cried since I was fourteen years old (well not around them anyway), when this guy I liked rejected me when I asked him out. So, needless to say, Brittany and Alex were pretty damn surprised when they noticed my eyes were full of tears.

Their faces softened and they pulled me into a hug, and I let the tears fall. After a minute I saw the door open and the Sons walked out.

I immediately turned around, and almost ran to my brothers car. But there was one problem. My traitorous brother decided he wanted to figure out what was wrong with me right then and there.

And apparently the Sons of Ipswich wanted to know to. Well, not counting one, who was standing a half a step further away.

I stood there staring over the top of my brothers car, taking deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"What's wrong?" Alex.

"Yeah. What's wrong Case?" Brittany.

I stared over the top of his car into space, mentally calling the closest snake to me. I took several more deep breaths, and the snake I had asked for help told me that the door was opened. I thanked him and he left.

I took another deep breath before saying, "If you wanna know what happened so badly, ask Tyler." I opened the door quickly, and got inside, leaving four people looking confused about mentioning Tyler, and one person with an angry expression on hi face because he knows what I did to his car.


	4. Chapter 4

As I sat in the back seat of the car, my anger grew.

Caleb, Pogue, Reid and Brittany were all visibly confused because I mentioned Tyler. I mean, I told them that I saved his ass from a major beating, I didn't tell them anything that happened after that.

Alex was standing there with a look of pure rage on his face. He knew exactly what I did to his car to get in, and I had promised him when he got it that I wouldn't do it. And I just did.

Caleb knocked on the car window. "What do you mean ask Tyler. He doesn't even know you."

My anger grew more at this. Brittany spoke. "Tyler, why is she being like this?"

I watched as everyone turned and faced Tyler. He spoke now. "I don't know. I don't even really know her."

"Really?" Caleb.

"Well I met her when me, mom, and dad went up to visit my grandma because she was dying. I got into a little dispute at the bar there, and she saved me from getting the crap beat out of me. Other than that I don't know her."

My anger peaked. In the back of my mind I heard a violent hiss from Aurora. I got out of the car very quickly and I got up into Tyler's face.

"You don't _know_ me?" my voice was quiet, but it was filled with the power of pure rage and hurt. I poked his chest as I continued foreword. "After I saved your ass we hung out that entire week. We talked a lot. I told you everything about me and my family, just like you told me about you and your friends."

I heard several gasps behind me, but I ignored those and continued. "I trusted you, I fell for you and I gave you my heart. And on that last day, when we were supposed to say goodbye, you destroyed all trust that I had for men, and you destroyed my heart." if looks could kill, he would be dead from the looks that I was giving him. "Don't even bother lying about knowing me anymore, because all that will come from it is you being very,_ very_ hurt."

I was happy that all of the students were gone now, and that Alex had parked his car near a some trees. I heard Aurora's voice, and my entire body jerked towards the woods. I looked over in time to see Aurora's long body slither down a tree trunk. I quickly went over to her as she was halfway down the tree. When I got close enough, she slithered onto my shoulders and around my neck.

I was too tired to tell her to go home in my head, so I just spoke aloud. "Go home Aurora."

The Sons were looking at Aurora with fear. Aurora ignored my request, and slithered off of my shoulders. She made her way over to a terrified looking Tyler.

She reached his feet, and started to slowly slither up his body. I watched as Reid's eyes grew black. Brittany stepped in front of him with a dangerous look on her face. He took one look at her, and let the black leak out of his eyes.

As Aurora reached his waist, Pogue's eyes turned black, but Alex stepped in front of him, with a serene look on his face. He was an inch or so taller than Pogue, so the black in his eyes faded almost immediately.

As Aurora reached Tyler's chest, I saw Caleb's eyes turn black. I didn't move to stand in front of him. I just spoke calmly. "If you do that Caleb, I will have to kill you." my voice was so calm and serious that he just glanced at me and the black bled from his eyes.

The six of us watched as Aurora made her way to wind loosely around his neck. I could see that Tyler was straining to stay upright. His upper body muscles, arm muscles, and leg muscles were all bunched up, trying to hold him upright. As Aurora wrapped loosely around his shoulders, her tail end left the ground, and it wrapped around his upper leg.

She positioned herself properly, and then just sat there her face three inches away from Tyler's.

Tyler stood like that for a few minutes until his legs gave out from the weight of her. He fell to his hands and knees, Aurora's face still only a few inches from his.

I walked over and kneeled down in front of him. I lifted his chin up so he would look at me. "I trusted you, and you destroyed that. If you ever pretend like that again, I may not be able to control my anger. I may not like you a whole hell of a lot right now, but I don't want to hurt you."

Aurora slithered from his shoulders, to mine. When her weight was finally off of him, his muscles un-bunched, and he almost fell to his stomach. I easily stood with Aurora, and walked over too Alex and Brittany.

As I opened the car door, Tyler spoke. "How can you walk around with that snake on your shoulders like that?"

His voice was quiet, and a little shaky. "_Her_ name is Aurora. And I've had her since I was six. I'm strong."

I climbed into the Mercedes-Benz. As I shut the door, Aurora left my shoulders to coil up onto the seat beside me.

Alex and Brittany climbed in a minute later, and we left the school.

We pulled into our garage, and as I got out I thought that Alex and Brittany would stop me, but they didn't. Aurora followed me to my bedroom.

After a few minutes I got up and sent Aurora back to her room, and I went downstairs just in time to hear my mom call for me to come downstairs, I am brilliant. I walked into the kitchen and went straight to the basement. I walked over to my chair, and lit another one of the candles, just as my family did the same thing.

My mom looked at me. "What happened."

"After I helped Tyler out, we decided to meet and hang out for the next few days. We talked a lot about ourselves, our experiences. The day before he left, he kissed me." I heard two sharp intakes of breath from my brother and father. "We made plans to say goodbye the next day, but then, he never showed up. I saw him drive by, but he never stopped."

I had tears in my eyes from telling them the quick explanation. My dads and brothers eyes were practically bulging out of their heads. "He. _Kissed_. You?" my dad was shocked and mad.

You see, when the Phoenix are born, we have this thing in our souls that locks onto one guy or girl. If we find him or her, we are lucky. There are some of the Phoenix that never find their other half, and have to make due with someone else. But the funny thing about this thing is that sometimes, the pair can't stand each other, and they fight all the time, but deep down they still loved each other.

I sighed and looked at my dad. "Yes. He kissed me."

"And?" my moms eyes were sparkling. She had always wanted her three children to find their other halves.

I mind flicked to the feeling of his lips against mine, the shock that had seemed to reverberate through my body, through my very being. I smiled a small smile. "Yes." it was one simple word, but it sent my mom's heart through the roof, and my dad looked angrier than ever.

When my facial expression, still a little sad, stayed the same, mom looked confused. "Why aren't you happy?"

"Because he tried to lie about knowing me! He pretended that we had never talked after I saved his ass! It annoyed the hell outta me! And, I know, that deep down in my soul I belong with him, but all I can feel right now is anger and hurt! I almost wish it had never happened!"

I buried my face in my hands. I was getting depressed, which was so not good for my health. See, I have Leukemia. They found it about a month ago, and I refused chemo, because I hadn't wanted to live in the hospital. And along with the Leukemia, I also had diabetes, so I really had to watch what I ate, and my emotions. That is why I say getting depressed is not good for my health.

Brittany, who had been quiet all this time, spoke then. "Don't worry Casey. Sooner or later he'll come around." I looked at her, and she had a little bit of a far off look on her face.

That was one thing that bugged me about her. Whenever she said something smart or comforting like that, she was always thinking about something else at the same time. I glared daggers at her, and she seemed to snap out of it. "What was it that you just said sweety?" my mom asked.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Brittany always pretended that she didn't remember what she said. But whenever it happened she always looked like she just woke up from a nightmare. "I didn't say anything." she frowned.

Again, it pissed me off. "Ugh! You know what? Im tired, I'm going to bed. I'll figure things out tomorrow."

I stood and started towards the stairs, but not before I heard the very quiet, "Well she's pissy." from my dearest sister. I ignored her and went to bed.

I got upstairs and instantly lay down on my bed. A lot happened in this past week, and it was very tiring.

I lay in bed for hours attempting to sleep. Just before I fell into the welcoming darkness of sleep, the last thing I saw, was Tyler Simms face.

The week sped by: classes, swim practice, and ignoring the Son's as much as possible. Soon enough, it was Friday.

As I sat in my Advanced English, tapping my pencil against my desk, someone walked into the classroom. The Terrible Two and I looked up quickly. One of the girls we know named Becky handed a note to the teacher.

He read the note and looked up. "Samantha Wilson. You mother is here to pick you up." he said it in a bored tone.

At first I was confused as hell. Why was mom picking me up? Then I remembered; it was Friday. My doctor's appointment. "Shit!"

Most of the class either looked at me or laughed. "Watch your language in my classroom Miss. Wilson." Mr. What's-his-name (I forgot after the first five minutes of being in his class) scolded.

"Yes sir. Sorry." I picked up my books and filled my bag. As I hurried to the door, I could feel people staring at me. I glanced back into the classroom as I reached the door to see Tyler looking at me confused. I shut the door and ran out to the light blue 1967 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible.

My mom smiled at me. She was perfect in this car. Short, curly black hair, thin but curvy figure, mid height. Warm blue eyes. I smiled back. "Don't worry sweety. I heard that Dr. Simms is very nice." her smile weakened a little bit.

My eyes were popping out of my head. "WHAT? DR. SIMMS? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT MY NEW DOCTOR WAS GOING TO BE TYLER'S _DAD_?" I didn't usually yell, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

My mom gave me a deadly look. Never mess with a woman that can communicate with bears. "Look. You needed a doctor! And when I went to the hospital, I talked to Dr. Simms and he seems like a very nice and talented man. He's the best doctor there, and that's without Using. You need to trust my judgement. All we're doing today, is talking to him about your medical history, and then a quick check up to make sure that the leukemia hasn't spread. Okay?"

I huffed. "Fine. But Tyler finds out _anything_ about my medical condition, I'm going to send Aurora after him while he sleeps, okay?"

"No you wont. We will talk to him and make sure everything is confidential."

"Mhmm." I set myself to ignoring her until we got to the hospital.

We reached the hospital and as I looked up at it, I realized that I wasn't mad about my doctor being Tyler's dad. I was nervous that they would find that the cancer spread.

We got out of the car and made our way into the hospital. We walked up to the desk and the nurse told us where to go.

"You ready?" my mom asked as we stood outside the office door.

I looked at her. "No." I said it without emotion. My mom sighed and knocked on the office door.

After a few seconds the door was opened to reveal Doctor Simms. I was gaping at him because he was so familiar. He had the same messy dark brown hair, the same blue eyes, and the same nose as his son. It made me want to cry.

After a long introduction and discussion about my medical history, I was led to dozens of rooms so I could get a CAT scan, an ultrasound and tons of other things to check for any new tumors, that weren't in my left lung.

After a good half-hour of waiting, Dr. Simms came back into the waiting room where my mom and I were. He had a sad look on his face. "I am really sorry to tell you this, but, you have another tumor, about the size of a grape, nestled beside your heart." I stopped breathing. " We aren't sure wether it is benign or malignant so we would like to do some tests–"

He droned on for another minute about the tumor and about papers me and mum needed to sign, but I wasn't paying any attention. I was thinking about other things: my family, friends, Tyler. I couldn't keep that last one out if I wanted to.

"Check it!" I almost yelled it.

"What?" Dr. Simms was confused.

"Are you stupid? Check the tumor! I don't want to have more leukemia." I was almost in tears.

He sighed. "After you sign those papers I can check the tumor." he said this to my mom, but I knew there was a spot that I needed to sign as well. I jerked them away from my mom and signed the spot. After an agonizing minute, Dr. Simms finally said. "This way please."

I followed him into the room, and went straight to the bathroom with the gown and got changed. I went back into the room to wait for the doctor and nurse.

After ten minutes, I was on the operating table, with a stick in my mouth. See they couldn't numb the part that they needed to stick the needle in fear of stopping my heart, so I had to bear the pain. I had been through enough pain sticking myself in the finger every day, so I figured this wouldn't be too bad.

I clamped my teeth onto the stick as the needle made its way in. He pushed that damn thing in so far I thought it would go right through me. When he finally removed it, I let out the breath I had been holding in. And I wasn't stupid. I knew that he had been Using to make sure he hit the tumor and nothing else.

My only though right now though: HOLY MOTHER FUCKER THAT HURT!

I was still gritting my teeth when I changed back into my clothes.

"You may go home now. We are sending the test to the lab, we will call you in when we have the results." Dr. Simms seemed a little bit depressed about this.

We went home and I lay in bed, not even going downstairs for dinner.

I spent the entire weekend stressing out about the results of my tests. Monday came around and I had a shower in the morning. When I looked in the mirror, I almost cried because I had a big purple and black bruise on my left breast. "Awe shit."

We made our way to school and went through our first three classes without any news. When lunch rolled around, we made our way to the cafeteria. We looked at our usual table, only to see it occupied.

We started to make our way over to the doors to eat outside when a voice called, "Alex! Brittany! Casey! Come sit over here."

We turned around and saw Reid Garwin motioning for us to sit with him. Of course the other Son's were with him. Meaning Tyler.

Oh _joy_. Note the sarcasm.

My siblings looked over at me, asking for permission almost. I sighed and walked over, them smiling in sympathy at me. I took a seat across from Pogue, because he was the furthest from Tyler. Everyone at the table noticed, but didn't say anything. Reid decided to speak then. "So. How have you Wilson's been lately?"

"Fine." Alex.

"Decent." Brittany said this, but not without batting her eyelashes at him. This did not go unnoticed by him.

They all looked at me expectantly. "I've been better."

"Oh. Is it because I asked you to sit with us?" he asked motioning towards himself and the other Son's.

I smiled a little. "Not really. That is a small portion. But most of it has to do with my doctors appointment I had on Friday at Gloucester."

"Your appointment was at Gloucester?" Tyler was speaking. "Who's your doctor."

"Oh yeah. I met your dad Tyler. He's really nice compared to you." I gave him an icy glare that made him look down.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait." Caleb said. "Your saying that Tyler's dad is your new doctor?"

"Yes he is." I smiled. Then so quietly that they didn't hear, I said, "They should have gotten my test results back today."

"What was that?" Reid asked.

"Hmm?" I looked at him. "Oh nothing."

"Okay, well as I was saying–"

He was cut off by my cell phone ringing. We listened to John Lennon's song _Imagine_ play as I fished it out of my pocket. "Hello?"

"Sweety. They got the test results back. I'm coming to pick you up." was my moms reply.

"Oh. Okay, your taking me to go and see what they are right?"

"Um. Yes of course." a shot of ice went through my body.

"You already know." It wasn't a question.

"I went by this morning to check out wether they got the results or not. They did so they told me."

I was breathing heavily now. My mom's voice wasn't happy or relieved. "Tell me."

"What?"

"Mom, tell me the results of that test right now or I swear to god I will jump off the cliffs."

She hesitated before answering. "The test came back positive. The tumor is made up of leukemic cells."

I stopped breathing and dropped my phone. It hit the floor with a bang. I looked at Britt and Alex's worried faces before running out of the cafeteria into the nearest bathroom.

When I opened my eyes, I saw a white ceiling. It was bright in the room. The nurses office.

"Oh my god! Casey are you okay?" Brittany saw my eyes open and was totally freaking.

"Casey? How are you feeling?" Alex had a really worried look on his face.

I opened my mouth to say that, yes, I was fine, when I remembered what happened. After going into the bathroom and throwing up everything that I had eaten that day, I must have passed out.

And then I remembered why I ran to the bathroom. I had more Leukemia. This time near my heart.

I felt my siblings hug me. I opened my eyes and tell them what happened when I heard a commotion start out in the hall. There was a door between us so I only heard clips of what was going on, but I knew who it was.

"Don't stop me I...if you try that I'll...LET ME IN!... Son of a..." Alex walked over to the door and opened it to see my mother standing five feet away from the door with two of the teachers between her and the door.

"Mom?" Alex said it as if he were seeing things.

"Oh my god! Alex! Is she okay? Is she awake?" seeing that she was a parent the two teachers moved aside and my mom hurried in and grabbed my hand. "Are you okay sweety? Are you hurt at all?"

I looked up at my mom's worried face, and the tears that I had been holding back started streaming down my face. "Mommy. I don't want it to be true. I don't want any more. Tell me it's not true." I reached up and hugged her hard.

I felt her tears in my hair. "I'm sorry sweety. I can't say it's not true. The tests came back positive."

I looked over to see that the door was closed and Alex and Brittany were hugging each other, crying because they finally caught on to what was going on. They realized that the leukemia was worse.

After an hour and a half of crying in the nurses office, me, my siblings and my mom made our way to the parking lot.

The Sons' saw us and they ran over. "Hey are you okay?" Caleb was actually worried.

I looked at him and simply shook my head.

The four of us got home and my mom explained to Alex and Britt about the tumor as we sat at the kitchen table. Then she told us about what would have to be done. "The doctors figure you have about three months to live. The tumor is in a spot that they can't remove it without the chance of destroying your heart. You need a transplant. And seeing as how you have a rare blood type, the chances of getting a heart in that amount of time is about twenty in a hundred. And since you refused chemo in the first place, they will either need to remove your left lung now. With or without a donor. So you're in the same boat with your lung and heart. I'm sorry sweetie."

I looked away from her face, and down to my hands. The tears were back. I felt Alex's hand rubbing my back and Brittany's rubbing my arm. They were afraid. I was too. "Please. Guys, please. Don't tell anyone. I don't want anyone to know."

I looked up into their eyes. All I saw was understanding. They knew that if I wanted someone to know, I would tell them. "Mom? Dr. Simms did say he won't tell anyone right? Not even his son?"

My mom looked at me with a small smile on her face. "When he told me, I asked him not to tell Tyler. I told him that we are of the Phoenix, and about you and Tyler. He promised that he would keep it from his son. For you, and for Tyler."

"Thank you mom." The tears were streaming down my face again. I stood up and went into my bedroom. I stayed there for the entire night, ignoring everyone that came to my door, even for supper. I was angry, and scared, and sad.

Things weren't supposed to be like this. I was supposed to get a new lung, and live a long carefree life. With Aurora. And get married and have a family. I wasn't supposed to get more leukemia.

I sat on my bed, staring at my ceiling. At ten o'clock I sat up suddenly. I ran downstairs into the kitchen just as my dad walked in the door.

He looked seriously depressed. He already knew. He saw me standing in the doorway, and the tears filled his eyes. My dad was a very sensitive man, and I loved him like I did the rest of my family. I ran to him and threw myself into his arms. He hugged me hard, and I hugged him back. "It'll all be okay Sammy. It'll be okay." my daddy's name for me made me cry harder. He was the only one that I allowed to call me by my first name.

After a little while, I pulled back from him. "Daddy? Will you help me with something?" I was still bawling my eyes out.

He nodded. "Of course Sammy. What is it?"

Ten minutes later my dad and I were in my bedroom. He and I used to have a tradition. Every year, he would help me put those little glow in the dark stars on the ceiling in my room. We stopped doing it when I was thirteen because I was complaining that I was too old for them.

He had a brand new package of bright pink ones** (A/N. I know I said she hates pink, but the pink ones are prettier than the greenish ones)** , and he was helping me stick them to my ceiling and walls. These packages were huge. They had around forty stars in them.

My dad and I spent a good hour in there putting them up on the walls. We were talking about my past mostly. The stupid and funny things I did when I was a kid. The first time I talked to a snake, the time I pushed Alex down a muddy hill, when I fell in a puddle of water when I was two, when I scared Brittany so bad she fell in the pool.

We talked so much, we even laughed a little. I was more like my dad, while my siblings were like my mom, so I got along better with my dad, just like Britt and Alex got along better with my mom. But I still loved all of them. At eleven thirty, my dad went to bed, and I lay down in my bed, staring at my walls and hugging the small stuffed teddy bear that my mom gave me as a baby to my chest. I fell into a restless sleep, still crying.

After a short argument with my mom, I climbed into the backseat of my brothers car to go to school. My mom didn't want me going to school today because I was too traumatized about the news. I told her that when I found out I had cancer in my lung I didn't miss any school, that this is no different.

The day dragged by so slowly I thought that time itself had stopped. When lunch came around, I let Brittany and Alex sit with the Sons' while I went out to the courtyard to eat. At swim practice I didn't socialize with Sierra like I normally did, I just sat there and waited for my turn. My heart wasn't in it anymore. It was just automatic. Like breathing.

Over the next few days, I slowly pushed myself away from everyone and everything. I knew that it was hurting my family and friends, but I just couldn't get attached. If I did, and then I died, they would be devastated. I couldn't do that to them. I just couldn't.

I passed people in the hallways, on the stairs, on the road. Some still say hi, but most have given up. I notice Brittany and Reid at lunch, looking at me worriedly, and exchanging a kiss or two. I had a feeling that they would get along nicely, she always did like blondes. I notice Alex and Sierra in Biology, sneaking glances at each other. I notice my parents staying up late at night, talking about more medical bills, and other doctors. And crying. Always crying.

But more than everything else, I notice Tyler. I notice the way he walks, the way he talks, and the way he eats a single fry. I notice the way he looks at me in the hallways, in the classes we have together, and at lunch. I notice that he notices that something is wrong. Very wrong.

Three weeks after I was told about the heart tumor, I was wandering through the Dells, just wanting to get away. Get away from the diagnosis, people, pain, sadness. Everything.

I came to a beautiful cliff edge. There was pretty green grass, a few flowers that haven't died yet. And the leaves falling from the trees just set the perfect mood.

Fall. The season where nature dies. I thought about throwing myself off of the cliffs edge. Quick. Painless.

I sat a few feet away from the cliffs edge, looking at the horizon. I had my arms wrapped around my legs, and my chin resting on my knees. The sunset was beautiful. The mixture of oranges, yellows, pinks, purples and blues were perfect.

I had been sitting there for about five minutes when I hear a _snap_ behind me. My head whipped around and I saw no one other than Tyler Simms standing that the tree line.

I gave him a half-hearted glare and said, "What are you doing here?"

He came and sat down beside me before answering. "I come here a lot to watch the sunset. This is my favourite spot to come to when I want to be alone. Why are you here?"

I hesitated before answering. "I wanted to be alone. To get away from everything. Everyone." I said it quietly, but I knew he could hear me.

I saw him nod before we lapsed into a comfortable silence. We watched the sun set for a little bit longer before he spoke again. "Why do you avoid everyone?"

"What do you mean?" I knew exactly what he meant but I wanted to delay it.

"You used to be happy and carefree. You would talk to tons of people. You smiled you laughed. Frig, you threw erasers at the teachers and blamed it on Reid!" I smiled a little at the reminder. "And then all of a sudden you pulled away. You don't talk, you don't laugh, or smile, or do any of the things you used to do. What happened?"

I took a deep breath. "The doctors appointment happened." I wanted to tell someone. But I just didn't know how.

He looked confused. "What do you mean? Was my dad being an ass?"

"No. Your dad was a complete gentleman." I gave him a look that said 'unlike _some_ people'. He looked a little guilty. "It was one of the tests that was done."

There was a long pause before he said, "I'm still not following."

I looked over at him, into his blue eyes that were so similar to mine. "A month and a half ago, I was diagnosed with Leukemia." he looked at me suddenly, but I was looking at the sunset again. "I have a tumor in my left lung. The only thing that they could do is either chemotherapy, or a transplant. But unfortunately I have a rare blood type, and I refused chemo. So I still have the tumor in my lung.

"When we moved here, I needed a new doctor, and my mom talked to your dad about me, what I'm going through with the cancer, and my other medical problems." I saw a bit of a confused look on his face. "I have diabetes." he nodded. "Anyways. That Friday my mom came and picked me up? That was my doctors appointment. I went through all of the normal procedures. CAT scans, and ultrasounds, among others.

"We were in the waiting room when your dad came out. They found a tumor nestled beside my heart, about the size of a grape. They needed a sample from it to tell wether it was benign or malignant." my eyes were beginning to fill with tears now, and Tyler was not oblivious to this. "So they stuck a needle into it," I moved my shirt down a few inches so that Tyler could see the big yellow bruise that was still there. "and got the sample. On Monday, when we went and sat with you guys, my mom called. She told me that they got the results, and I knew from the tone of her voice that she already knew. The tumor is made up of more Leukemic cells."

The tears in my eyes were flowing freely now. "I figured that if I pushed people away, they wouldn't be that hurt if I died."

I had tears streaming down my face as I looked at Tyler. He looked torn. He pulled me into a strong hug. At first I wasn't sure if I should hug him back, but then I realized the fact that he was hugging me, and I clung onto him for dear life.

"I'm so sorry for being such an asshole." his words were muffled by my shoulder.

I smiled. "It's okay. I forgive you." I said this as the sun set for the night.

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**Okay!**

**Review please!**

**ill try and update again on Saturday**


	5. Chapter 5

**OOOOOOOOOKAY...so right now i am sitting at my computer, freezing my butt off. the reason?**

**my furnace is broken... and so to pass the time, i am working on more chapters for this lovely story.**

**Disclaimer: all that is owned by me is the Wilson family, and any others that you do not recognize (sp?)**

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Tyler and I sat at the cliff top for hours. We didn't talk much, just sat there enjoying each others company. By the time I glanced at my watch it was already midnight.

Just before we left to go to our homes, (Seeing as it was a Saturday night, Tyler wasn't staying at the dorms.) Tyler grabbed a hold of my arm. I turned and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't push away from people. You need friends."

He smiled his adorable dimpled smile before climbing into his hummer and driving off.

I made my way home slowly, thinking over all of the things we talked about. He told me about what had happened just before he left to visit his grandmother. Some phsyco bastard named Chase tried taking Caleb's Power. Apparently it backfired and Chase went missing. When I heard that, I felt I could relate.

I finally made it home in time to see my mom picking up the kitchen phone and start dialing the police. When she saw me, she slammed the phone down and pulled me into a hug. "Oh my god! Don't you ever do that to me again young lady!" my mom was almost yelling but her voice was laced with worry. She held me at arms length as she said, "If you're going to be out until midnight I want you to give me a call and tell me how long you're staying out, where you are, and who you're with!"

"Yes mom. I know. But right now, I just want to sleep." I gave her a kiss on the cheek before turning around and heading toward the stairs. "Goodnight mommy."

"Goodnight sweety." I glanced back in time to see her smile.

I spent most of the entire next day in my bedroom, thinking about what Tyler had last said to me. He was right. If I was going to live through this, I needed people to care for me and to support me. Of course having friends also meant that if I died, that would be terrible for them.

The next morning I followed my usual routine; get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to school. Just like every other morning, I was quiet, but this time I was still in thought, questioning myself.

Throughout my first three classes, I sat there, staring at the wall, thinking. I got in trouble twice because I hadn't been paying attention. By the time lunch came around, I made my final decision.

Instead of walking past the table that the Sons and my siblings sit at, I stopped a few feet away and looked at Tyler. He saw me and smiled sweetly. He scootched over a few inches and lightly patted the bench. Tyler had been the only one that saw me, so when I walked over and sat down beside him, everyone at the table turned and looked at me with either raised eyebrows, open mouths (which wasn't too pretty seeing as some had been chewing), or curious looks on their faces.

I looked over at Brittany and Alex, and they had small, but relieved smiles on their faces.

"Why are you sitting here?" Reid said from the other side of Tyler.

I narrowed my eyes at the same time Alex and Britt did. Tyler also took the liberty of elbowing Reid in the side, making him groan in pain. "I am sitting here because I have finished wallowing in self pity." I stated simply. "Not that it's any of your business, reject."

I heard someone choke back laughter and when I looked around the table, I noticed Pogue had his hand over his mouth and a glint in his eyes. I smiled directly at him, earning a glare from his girlfriend, before picking up my yogurt and beginning to eat.

There was a minute of silence before Alex picked up the conversation where it had left off, making everyone else join in and not stare at me.

After a few minutes of conversation that I did not join, Caleb surprised everyone by saying, "Casey, you don't need to tell us why you were 'wallowing', but why are you sitting beside Tyler?"

Everyone at the table was looking between me and Tyler in curiosity now. Me and Tyler shared a quick glance before I sighed.

"He stopped being an asshole." I said simply. Alex and Pogue chuckled while the girls at the table giggled. Caleb and Reid each raised an eyebrow. "We also talked it out." I said as I looked down at my food.

"Anyway. Back to the previous conversation. What do you guys think about..." Pogue's girlfriend restarted the conversation. They continued to ramble on about this and that and classes and such. I just sat there listening a little bit.

After lunch I went to my next class, which was with Tyler. I went and easily sat down beside him.

Ten minutes into class, Tyler passed a piece of paper over to me. I read what he wrote.

**Hey, you okay?** I smiled a little bit before writing back.

_**Yeah. I'm okay. And yourself? Lol.**_

I saw him smirk. **I am great... do you want me to tell the guys?**

_**NO! If I want them to know then I will tell them. Until then you don't say a word about it to anyone.**_ I could feel my heart pounding in my body. I wanted to tell people.

He read it silently. **Okay.** He nodded a little beside me. The rest of the class was uneventful.

By the time Friday rolled around, things were getting better. I was beginning to talk in conversations at lunch. It was my favourite part of the day, but also my least favourite. The reason it was my least favourite being because I had to put up with _attempting_ to ignore my sister and Reid making out in the middle of the cafeteria. One day I had gotten so sick of it I hit them both over the head saying, "If you two don't stop it I'm going to puke all over you!" They stopped pretty quickly after that because Britt knew that I would.

As I sat in between Tyler and Sierra, the others chatted about everything. I took a deep breath. "Guys." it was quieter than normal, but everyone stopped and looked at me. I looked over at Alex and Britt, and realization came across their features.

I took a deep breath, and began. "Guys, I have something that I have to tell you all." I hesitated. All of a sudden I was very nervous.

"You don't have to do it Case." Alex was sympathetic.

"Yes I do Alex." Tyler started rubbing slow circles into my back in comfort.

"Get on with it already!" Reid said in an annoyed tone.

He got death glares from Alex, Brittany and Tyler, just as they all said, "Shut up Reid!"

He cringed away from them. I closed my eyes, resting my face on my hands. "I have leukemia." It came out just a whisper. I glanced up to see the entire table, not including Tyler, Alex and Brittany, looking at me curiously. They hadn't heard me.

"Pardon?" Caleb said. At least he was a gentleman.

I took another deep breath. I lifted my head to meet the eyes of the others at the table. They settled on Caleb. "I have leukemia." this time I said it with more force and volume.

Even though we had only known each other for a few weeks, we made fast friends. So when I saw everyone at the table freeze, with a mix between realization, and horror slowly dawning their features, I knew that they cared about me.

The silence seemed to last forever. Caleb finally broke it, my eyes had never left his. "Y-you have cancer?" I nodded, my eyes still on him. "Wow. How long have you known?"

I smiled a little bit. "Two months. But you remember that day when I passed out in the bathroom when I was on the phone with my mom?" he nodded. "That was when I was told that it spread."

"So long. Why did you push away from everyone?"

I smiled in distaste towards myself then. "I figured people wouldn't be hurt if I died. But someone got me to see that I was being stupid." I glanced over at Tyler with a small smile that was full of gratitude. "So I started talking again."

I could tell that they were all shocked and worried about the leukemia tidbit, but the next conversation was all about how stupid some of the teachers were. I was happy that they didn't press for details.

Tyler and I left the cafeteria for our class. We were quiet on our way, but it was a comfortable silence. I was content.

**Tyler's POV**

I was very impressed with her courage. I know that she is strong, being able to say that without crying. I wouldn't be able to do it.

I was grateful when Alex quickly changed the subject of conversation. We all talked for a little while before me and Casey left.

We walked to our next class in silence, but I didn't mind. As we sat in Chemistry, listening to the teacher drone on and on about ions, I think, when I decided to ask her a question. "Hey. Me and the guys are going to Nicky's tonight. Wanna come?"

She gave me a funny look. "Nicky's? What's that?" I smiled, she was really pretty.

"It's a bar. Everyone from Spencer goes there to hang out." She thought for a minute. "Alex and Britt can come too."

A minute later she smiled widely. "Yeah! That should be fun." There was this twinkle in her eye as she looked at me, and I smiled at her. "What time will you pick me up?" she said this with a flirtatious edge to it, which (much to my utter horror) made me blush.

She giggled. "Uhmm. How's seven?"

She nodded and smiled.

After that we didn't talk, but I did see her pull out her cell and text someone. Probably Alex and Britt.

Over the next several hours I was almost giddy with anticipation.

**Casey's POV**

When Tyler asked me to Nicky's, I was overjoyed! And then when he blushed I almost laughed and hugged him.

When we stopped talking I pulled out my cell and sent a text to Britt and Alex telling them to be at Nicky's, otherwise I'd set Aurora on them.

I used Aurora as a constant threat

I was so happy.

When I got home I went strait to my room and got into the shower.

At ten to seven, I was searching through my closet, looking for something decent to wear. I mean, most of the time I could look for only ten minutes and _bingo!_ I have the perfect out fit, but not tonight.

For some reason I can't find a good enough outfit!

After a few more minutes, I finally found an outfit and pulled it on.

I walked downstairs to see Brittany and Alex ready to go.

Britt was wearing a short denim skirt, with spandex shorts on underneath of course, and a belly bearing magenta tank top, showing off her butterfly bellybutton ring. She had her hair pulled back into a messy bun, with some curled strands falling around her face.

Alex looked normal with jeans and a shirt.

I was wearing a short denim skirt as well, spandex shorts underneath, and a black tube top with light green vine designs going up the side. My hair was straightened to perfection, with some spots curled.

We sat there for like, two minutes, when we heard a car come down our drive. We waited patiently as we heard a car door close and a knock on the door.

I bounced lightly to the door. Tyler was there, looking _sooo_ cute!

"Hey." Tyler smiled as he spoke.

I beamed. "Hey! Uhm, it's okay if Alex and Britt catch a ride too right?"

His eyes twinkled. "Yeah that's fine. Come on, let's go, the rest of the guys are already at Nicky's."

"Well let's go then!" Alex pushed by, impatient.

"I call shot gun!" I practically screamed this, because Alex usually got there first.

I heard him groan, and mumble a stream of profanities.

The rest of us laughed as we climbed into the Hummer.

The ride was silent aside from me fiddling with the radio knobs. I finally found a station that I liked and my favourite song of all time came on.

Britt and I started belting out the lyrics to 'Welcome to my Life' by Simple Plan.

All four of us were singing along by the time we reached Nicky's.

We walked in and I was immediately reminded of Cascades. I could tell Alex and Britt thought the same thing, but they stayed quiet.

We made our way over to the table that was occupied by the other six of our little group. Alex went to sit in between Sierra and Pogue, me and Britt stayed standing. I could still feel the looks people were giving me because of my tattooed leg, but I didn't care. I looked around, taking in everything in the bar.

My eyes landed on the pool tables.

I smiled as I elbowed Britt. She looked at me and I gestured to the green tables. We smiled widely at each other.

"Hey, Tyler, Reid you want to come play pool with us?" Mine and Britt's smiles widened as we spoke in unison.

Tyler and Reid shared a look before Reid answered. "Sure, but don't be too sad if you loose, girls." he smirked, and the boys got up to follow.

Me and Britt shared a long look. We got to the tables and smiled at the boys. "Okay," I started. "Me and Britt against you two. Got it?"

"Okay." Tyler smiled. "You can break." he said this last part as we grabbed our pool ques.

Britt laughed manically. "You are _so_ in for it!"

"WAIT!" the three jumped at my sudden outburst. "The ones who lose have to fork up twenty each!"

I saw Britt smirk, along with Reid. "Alright. If you think you can win." I smiled back as we each put a twenty on the table.

" Alright. Here I go." Britt broke, immediately sinking the 'thirteen' and the 'nine' stripped balls. She took a shot to try and sink the stripped 'fifteen' ball, but unfortunately, she missed.

Reid took his turn next, sinking the 'seven', 'four' and 'three' solids, but also hitting some of the stripped balls. He went to sink the 'one', but he missed.

My turn.

I studied where the billiard balls were positioned over the table. After a few seconds, Reid spoke. "If you don't think you can get the shot, you can just pass your turn."

"Oh get off your high horse Reid." I said with a grin. "You two are about to lose badly."

I set up my shot perfectly. I hit the ball and successfully made the combo shot. I pocketed the 'ten', 'eleven', 'fifteen', and 'twelve', in that order. I smiled as I lined up the shot and sunk the 'fourteen'. Then I lined up the last shot, and sunk the 'eight' ball.

The boys were looking at me with wide eyes, their mouths hanging oped like fish out of water.

Britt and I grabbed the money, splitting it between us. "Thank you for the wonderful donation boys." I said with a grin.

Reid's mouth opened and closed several times before speaking. "How did you learn to play like that?"

"Play like what?" I said this innocently.

"Like...like...like _that_!"

"Oooh! Garwin and Simms got their asses kicked by a couple of girls." an annoying voice stopped my reply.

I turned around to see the idiot Aaron Abbott. "Why don't you just shove off Abbott!" Reid, always the aggravating one, put in.

"Oh shut it Garwin! You can't even beat a girl at pool."

I thought of something funny then, and laughed. They all looked at me funny.

"What's so funny, huh?" Aaron really was an asshole.

I giggled. "Sorry, but where's your boyfriend Abbott? You sound _so _gay, it's not even funny." the guys, and Britt burst out laughing, and Aaron got mad.

He lunged at me, but I was too fast. I danced to the side, grabbing his right forearm, and stepped behind him putting my foot in front of his so he would trip. He stumbled, falling to the floor. I was on his back, pressing his arm against his back at an odd angle.

I pushed it up a little bit, making him groan in pain. I pushed my free wrist against the back of his neck and leaned down to his ear. A crowd had formed around me and Aaron. "It is _not_ nice to try and hit a girl!" he tried getting up and I pushed his arm higher. "Try it again, and I will beat the living shit out of you. Got it?"

He didn't answer so I grabbed his hair with my hand and pulled back. "Well?"

"Okay!" he chocked it out. It was very forced.

I smiled. "Good boy. Now get outta here." I let his head go, and it hit the floor with a thump as I got up and walked over to Tyler in one swift movement.

I high-fived Britt as she said, "Go Casey! Always the fighting one!"

Reid came to stand in front of me. He placed a hand on each side of my face and said, "You are officially, my new hero!"

He bent and kissed my cheek, and I responded by patting him on the head like a dog.

I walked in front of Tyler and smiled. He was surprised by what had happened, I could tell, but he tried to hide it.

I expected him to say something like Reid did, but he didn't. Instead, he kissed me. Full on the mouth.

I blushed when he pulled away. "Well. That was fun and all, you know beating the shit out of Abbott, but im kinda hungry." I smiled at Tyler. "Wouldn't you agree Brittany?"

I looked at her and she had a huge smile on her face. "Yeah! I'm _starved_! Let's go eat!" we made our way over to the bar, holding hands with Tyler. Things were going good.

After ordering and the guys paying for our things (putting them down another ten bucks), we made our way over to where Pogue, Caleb and Alex were sitting.

The rest of the night was, for the most part, uneventful. Boring even.

We left shortly after ten, due to school in the morning.

I made my way to my bedroom, and easily changed into my pajamas for the night, consisting of blue and red silk shorts, and a black tank.

I was just curling up in bed when Alex and Britt came in.

I sighed. "Can I help you with something?"

They smiled at me. "We're just happy for you Casey." Alex said.

"Yeah," Britt was smiling. "You've finally found someone you can put your trust into."

I smiled at them. "Well it was bound to happen sooner or later."

They turned to walk out. "G' night Casey." they said at the same time. See! They have their moments too!

I fell into a peaceful sleep, remembering Tyler's kiss.

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** Thanks for reading!**

**Review?**


	6. Chapter 6

**All righty then... here is chapter 6 in this wonderful story.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I doth not possess those from The Covenant... i doth wish i did**

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The paper crinkled as I stood up to change.

I didn't need to have another test done to know that it happened. I could tell by the happenings lately; panting for breath after climbing a single flight of stairs, heart pounding double time after a jog down a short hallway, even driving my car had my heart pounding, and my breath coming quicker.

The leukemia had spread. In my lung and heart. It had begun to surround my heart, making it work harder. And my entire left lung was almost full with the tumor there.

It's been two and a half months since the heart tumor was found, making it December.

It's sad really. I get told that I have more Leukemia, am given around three months to live, and _then_ get a boyfriend. Meaning I will die around Christmas. Oh, how life can suck.

I liked Tyler. A lot. Every time we kissed or hugged it sent shivers down my spine. I got lost in his eyes frequently, and often got yelled at by teachers for not paying attention in class. And damn those dimples!

Okay, I lied. I didn't like Tyler. I loved him.

It's crazy. I mean I met him when he was about to get the shit kicked out of him, kiss him, he breaks my heart, I move to where he lives, find out I have another tumor, start dating him, then fall in love with him. I love Tyler Simms.

But I think I'll let him say it first though. Well…. If he loves me back.

_If_ being the important part.

After changing back into my jeans and tank top, I went into the waiting room with my dad.

Tyler's dad came out and told us how much the leukemia has spread, making it cover a quarter of my heart.

It was spreading quickly. And they still haven't found a donor heart. And if they didn't get one soon, I was going to die. Just after I find the love of my life, I find out I'm going to die.

Convenient, isn't it?

After going home, I spent the rest of the weekend in bed. I didn't eat, I didn't talk. All I did was sleep.

My mom asked me countless times to come downstairs to eat, but I just told her no. It's not that I didn't _want_ to eat, it's just that I _couldn't_. Every time I tried, I just threw it up.

"What are you guy's giggling about?" I walked into the cafeteria for lunch on Monday with Britt, to see Kate, Sarah and Sierra all giggling and talking in under tones. The boy's weren't there.

Sarah looked up with a huge smile on her face. _Oh no, _I thought. s_hopping._

"There's a dance coming up and it's just before Christmas break!" She was bouncing in her seat. "It's this Friday and I can't wait!" She squealed then.

I winced. "Damn girl, any higher pitched and only bats will be able to hear you." Then the full impact of what she just said hit me. A dance, that means shopping. _Dress_ shopping. _Aww MAN!_ Dress shopping was worse than regular shopping. "A dance?"

"Yep!" Kate chirped. "And guess what?" She didn't even wait for an answer. "It's a masquerade dance! Masks and pretty dresses, and… and… Oh I can't _wait_!"

"Ooooh! I've never been to a masquerade dance before!" Britt said. "Casey we _have_ to go to this dance!"

She looked at me pleadingly. I know she didn't say it, but I could see it written all over her face and in her eyes. She wanted me to go because it could possibly be the last school dance that I would ever go to.

I looked at her for awhile. "Yeah." I said with a smile. "We're definitely going. I am so not missing out on this dance." I smiled wider then. "Even if Tyler doesn't ask me, I'll go stag."

Sierra smirked, and said, "You don't have to worry about that, Tyler will ask you by tonight. Guaranteed." Just as Britt said, "Oh he'll ask you!"

Unfortunately, the boys appeared just then, so I couldn't respond.

For the rest of the day, my mind was on Tyler, and the dance that I so badly wanted to go to with him.

Something hit me in the back of the head then. I turned to glare at Reid. Oh I am so getting him in shit for that.

I reached down and grabbed the paper that he lobbed at me.

**U goin to Nickys tonite?**

_**Since when do I miss a night out with mah friends? **_I replied. _**But whats the occasion? It's Monday…**_

I lobbed it back at him and it hit him in the middle of the forehead. I stifled a giggle as it left a red mark.

Another whack on the back of my head. **No occasion. Other than kickin Abbotts ass again at pool. U comin or no?**

_**Course im comin! Who the hell do u think ur talkin to? Ill get the boyfriend to pick me up at 5**_

**Why at 5? Thats a little early?**

_**Ive been relle tired lately. Goin to bed at 7 evry night n havin trouble getting up in the mornin 4 skool.**_

**Oh….the leukemia?**

_**Yeah. Don be tellin Ty tho. He'll worry bout me. I don want him too.**_

**Yeah. I understand. I wont tell.**

_**Kay. Thnx ill c u tonite.**_

The note ended before I poked Tyler in the side, making him jump. I stifled a laugh. "Pick me up at 5 tonight for Nicky's?"

He gave me a funny look when I told him the time, but agreed nonetheless.

I changed into jeans and a black long sleeved shirt that showed my belly button and my snake navel ring. I put my hair into a messy bun and pulled my runners on and walked outside.

I just got to the end of the driveway as the familiar shiny black hummer pulled up.

"Hey." I leaned over and kissed him quickly on the lips.

"Hey." He looked closely at my face. "Are you okay? You look kinda tired." He rubbed his thumb over the bruises under my eyes lightly.

"I just haven't been getting much sleep lately." I said with a small smile. "I'm fine though."

We entered Nicky's holding hands, and immediately started looking around for people we know. We spotted our group in a booth near the back.

As we made our way over, we saw Reid get up and walk off to the pool tables, and we saw Aaron and his goons all waiting to lose their money.

I saw Tyler watch with a longing in his eyes. He totally wanted to scam them out of their money. I nudged him in the side with my elbow. "Go ahead. You need money to buy my milkshake later." I said with a smile.

He smirked as he walked off.

I made my way over to the table, said my 'hello' and was met with several 'hey's, 'hi's and 'hullo's.

After a few minutes talking, the boys wandered off to play foosball. Us girls were left alone to wreak havoc.

Conversation immediately got turned to the dance that Friday. We were making plans to go dress shopping the following night when we were rejoined by all our boys.

"What are we talking about ladies." The ever annoying Reid Garwin says as he sits down next to my sister.

"Nothing." Britt and I said, as Sarah, Kate, and Sierra said, "The upcoming school dance."

"Oh yeah." Caleb said. "The girls at school have been talking about that all day."

"Yeah." Pogue said. "It's quite annoying how most of the girls in our school decide to stare and giggle at us constantly. Even if we're taken." He looked meaningfully at Kate.

"Yeah whatever." Was the response he got from us girls.

I yawned silently, and looked at my watch. It was nearly seven o'clock and I was already dead tired.

I sighed. "Tyler? Can you take me home? I'm kinda tired."

He gave me a funny look. "But it's only seven."

"I know, but I'm really tired. I need to get to bed." I said it in a firm voice, and he didn't argue.

We said our goodbyes and left in his hummer.

He parked in front of my house and we both just sat there for a minute.

"So…" Tyler said. "What's really going on with you?"

"Nothing. I told you. I'm just tired, okay?" I looked over at him and it was evident on his face that he didn't believe me. "I'm serious I'm just ti-" the look he gave me was so angry that I shut up almost instantly.

His gaze softened. "Look. I just want to know what's wrong with you. You're always saying that your tired now, and it's starting to annoy me, especially because you insist on lying about it." My hand was in his, and he was rubbing circular motions into it. "Please just tell me the truth."

I looked at him for a few minutes before answering. "The leukemia is spreading. It's starting to surround my heart, and most of my lung." My eyes filled with tears, but they didn't fall. Not yet anyway. "It's spreading so much more quickly than it was before. My heart is working double time just by walking up a flight of stairs! And when-"

But I never to finish my sentence because Tyler's lips crashed into mine at that exact moment. My heart was crashing against my chest from the feel of his lips against mine. My hands went to the back of his neck, and my fingers twisted in his hair, as his hands rested on my waist and pulled me closer to him. His tongue grazed my bottom lip, asking for entrance. My mouth opened as a shiver ran down my spine, and our tongues started a fierce dance for dominance.

We pulled apart as breathing became an issue. We stared at each other as we panted for breath.

"Will you go to the Christmas dance with me this Friday?" Tyler asked, when he finally caught his breath.

The breath that I had managed to get back threatened to whoosh out of me again. I looked into his clear blue eyes, and smiled. "I would love to!" and I pulled his lips back to mine.

"Girls! Hold up for a minute!" Britt called out to Sierra, Kate and Sarah.

They walked over when they realized I sat down on one of the benches in the mall.

The five of us had decided to go shopping for dresses, and I actually had fun (but you can't tell _anyone_ that okay?). Only problem is that it's getting harder and harder for me to breathe, with my heart going so fast constantly, and only one lung working.

Well, we were just about to leave the mall. We all bought the dresses we wanted. I fell in love with mine the moment I saw it, as did the other girls. And we all came to the same conclusion: The boys were going to die when they saw us in these dresses.

There were only two days left till the dance, and we were going nuts. There was so much to do! Makeup, hair, and nails. Also making sure the guys had the colour of our dresses right so they can match. It was exhausting, but I loved it.

"Hey, you okay?" Sierra asked.

I was breathing heavily. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little out of breath."

Sarah sighed, annoyed. "I _hate_ how you keep on saying things like that! You are _not _okay! So stop downsizing your condition and admit the truth to yourself!"

The other girls went completely silent. I was angry. "You think I'm downsizing my disease? Well. Your wrong." I spoke quietly. "I know what's going on. I've had it for five months." My voice was steadily getting louder. "All I'm trying to do is live the last my life happy! I _know_ that I am not in good condition!" I was yelling now. "Unless they get me a heart, I'm going to die! I _know_ that!"

I was breathing more heavily than before, people were staring at me. "I just wish that you would respect the fact that I want to be _happy_ if I do die."

I stood up and walked out of the mall, my dress and accessories over my arm, and waited by Britt's truck.

Less than a minute later she was getting in the drivers seat, and I was climbing in.

The next day I didn't even look at Kate.

"Casey! Hurry up! I need you to do my hair!" Brittany is yelling at me through the bathroom door. It's quite annoying actually.

"Yeah, yeah, in coming." I came out with a smile on my face. They all stared at me. I can understand it too. I haven't wore a dress since I was twelve, and here I am all decked out in a floor length dress with my hair and makeup done all pretty. I looked good. "Close your mouths! Do you want to catch bugs?"

They laughed at that, which was my goal, and I started on Britt's hair.

We were all at Pogue's house, because it was the closest to campus. The guys were all downstairs, ready and waiting.

After another half an hour of hair, nails and accessories, we were finally ready.

We walked down the stairs in order.

Kate was first in her elegant purple dress, and silver accessories. The dress was strapless and flared out at the bottom, and had silver designs across the chest. She was wearing a silver Celtic knot necklace with a small teardrop of amethyst hanging from it, a platinum ring that she got from her dad (2 carat diamond!), and pretty amethyst earrings. The heels she wore were purple, and the mask was purple and gold with feathers protruding from the right side. Her hair was curled and pinned off to the left side of her face.

I think Pogue was about to faint.

Next was Sarah. She was wearing a beautiful red strapless dress that had some frills and gold outlining. She wore gold teardrop earrings with rubies in the center, a gold heart necklace, and a gold ring with small stars etched into the surface. Bright red heels and a red and gold mask finished off the outfit. Her hair was pulled back into a perfect messy bun, with a few curled strands framing her face.

Caleb caught a few bugs I'm sure.

Sierra was gorgeous. She was wearing a pretty strapless light green dress that went to the floor. She wore a silver vine necklace, a ring with diamond vines on it, and pretty (you guessed it) diamond vine earrings. Silver heels and a silver, green and black mask finished it. Her hair was curled nicely and cascaded down her back.

Alex needs a life, he was staring at her like there was no tomorrow.

Brittany was wearing a pretty magenta dress that had a strap that went over her left shoulder and around under her right boob, the strap was weaved with silver beads. She wore a black key necklace with a black rope, diamond double drop earrings, and a ring that had a bunch of diamonds on it and pink rubies weaved into it. Black heels, and a pink silver and black mask perfected the outfit. Her hair had been flat ironed to perfection and went down her back, a few strands from either side of her face tied at the back of her head.

Reid looked like a fat kid on Christmas; he was glowing when he saw her.

I took a deep breath before I turned the corner and descended the stairs.

The boys were all in awe. I had on a strapless (go figure) deep blue dress with silver embroidery along the front and back of it, it was floor length, so it covered my tattoo. I wore white-gold earrings with diamonds and a sapphire blue teardrop, a silver flower necklace with five sapphires, and a silver ring with a sapphire. Black heels were invisible beneath my dress, and I wore a silver mask, with blue and light purple feathers on the top. My hair was curled and pinned at the back of my head.

Tyler walked forward and took my arm in his.

"You girls look beautiful!" Selina, Pogue's mom, said. "Oh I have to have some pictures!"

I smiled. "Pictures sound great."

Her face brightened greatly. "Great!" she pulled out her camera and started snapping pictures like there was no tomorrow. After, like, twenty minutes, we finally managed to pull away from her and go out to the limo we rented.

Pogue glared at me as soon as the limo started moving. "What?" I asked, my voice feigning innocence.

"Why did you give her loose reign with the pictures? We could have avoided that altogether!"

He was just playing, I knew that, but there was also seriousness in his voice. I looked down at my lap and started playing with the ring on my finger. "This might be the last dance I ever go to. I wanted to get as many pictures taken as I could." I was biting my lip, glad I hadn't put on any lip gloss.

"Oh. Shit I'm sorry Casey!" Pogue felt bad now.

I smiled as Tyler's arm tightened around my waist. "It's okay Pogue. I just want to leave with a bang if I do go." I looked over at Alex and Britt and they had sad smiles on their faces.

Then they were on me, giving me huge hugs. I laughed as I fell backwards a bit. "Guys! Get off of me!"

They had goofy smiles on their faces when they sat back down next to their significant others.

The rest of the ride was filled with laughing and joking. When we pulled up to the school, we all pulled our masks on. The boys masks were all white, contrasting with their black tux's.

Everyone turned and looked as the limo pulled into the lot.

We climbed out in pairs. First Caleb, he helped Sarah out, then Pogue, he helped Kate out, Reid was next helping Brittany out, then Tyler helping me out, and last but not least, Alex helping Sierra out.

After climbing out of the limo, and getting in line, people started going back to their conversations. Only a few of the girls were still looking on in jealousy.

The dance was great! I wouldn't dance to any of the fast songs, that would tire me out too quickly, but I had a lot of fun watching the girls and boys dancing. Tyler was great, and he never questioned why I wouldn't dance, although I did make him dance with the others a few times.

Tyler pulled me out onto the floor when Enrique Iglesias' song 'Hero' came on.

_Would you dance if I asked you to dance?_ _  
Would you run and never look back_ _  
Would you cry if you saw me crying_ _  
Would you save my soul tonight?_

My arms were wrapped around his shoulders, my head resting against his shoulder, my face buried in his neck. He smelled terrific._  
_  
_Would you tremble if I touched your lips?_ _  
Would you laugh oh please tell me these_ _  
Now would you die for the one you love?_ _  
Hold me in your arms tonight?_

His hands played at my hips, making my heart beat just a little faster.

_I can be you hero baby_ _  
I can kiss away the pain_ _  
I will stand by you forever_ _  
You can take my breath away_ _  
_

He pulled my face to his for a quick simple kiss. That's all it was too, a kiss. But I wanted more of it, all the time.

_Would you swear that you'll always be mine?_ _  
Would you lie would you run away_ _  
Am I in to deep?_ _  
Have I lost my mind?_ _  
I don't care you're here tonight_

He started to sing along with the song. I shook my head slightly.

_I can be you hero baby_ _  
I can kiss away the pain_ _  
I will stand by you forever_ _  
You can take my breath away_

_I just want to hold you, I just want to hold you__  
__Am I in too deep?_ _  
Have I lost my mind?_ _  
Well I don't care you're here tonight_

_I can be you hero baby_ _  
I can kiss away the pain_ _  
I will stand by you forever_ _  
You can take my breath away_

He twirled me around, and when I got back to him, he kissed me. It was long, but it wasn't passionate, just another kiss.

_I can be you hero baby_ _  
I can kiss away the pain_ _  
I will stand by you forever_ _  
You can take my breath away_

"I love you Sam." He said it quietly. I stopped dead in my tracks.

_You can take my breath my breath away_ _  
I can be your hero_

The song ended, but all I could do was look at him, shock colouring my face.

He started to fidget, and I realized that I still didn't answer.

I smiled widely before crashing my lips against his. After a minute I pulled away, and pressed my forehead against his.

He had a grin on his face. I smiled lovingly as I replied in a whisper, "I love you too Ty."

He smiled and kissed me again. But I pulled away then, and slapped his shoulder. "I told you not to call me –"

But I was cut off with his lips. _Oh well,_ I said in my mind. _He'll call me it anyway._

He pulled me off the dance floor then, and pointed me towards the girls, the boys needed to talk a bit about Reid's ascending in two weeks.

I walked over with a goofy smile on my face. Sierra noticed me first. "Casey! What are you smiling about?" The other girls turned and saw the look on my face.

I giggled. "He told me he loved me." I was still a little dazed from the happenings of a minute ago, but I was instantly snapped out of my trance when the girls all started squealing and jumping. They all came and hugged me.

Then it all became a jumbled mess of 'OMG!''s, and 'I can't believe it!''s, and 'I know!''s.

After a few minutes the guys came over and calmed us all down. Tyler had his hands wrapped around my middle, and he kissed my cheek. Now, I don't blush that often, and I just blushed. The other guys just kind of smirked, Tyler told them.

A few more songs came and went, and then the DJ announced that the next song will be the last dance of the evening. Then 'I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith started playing (yes I realize it is very cliché).

As Tyler pulled me into his arms to dance, the first thing that passed through my mind was that the lead singer kind of looked creepy in the video for this song. But then I looked into Tyler's eyes and my mind went blissfully blank.

It happened during the third verse. I had my head against Tyler's shoulder again, when my heart jumped into triple time. My body jerked away from him.

"Casey? Are you okay?" Tyler was starting to panic. "Sam? Sam?"

I gripped his wrists very tightly, before collapsing, but Tyler caught me. The last thing I saw before everything went black was my brother and sister's faces invade my vision, my brother's cell phone to his ear.

* * *

** Good right? Yeah? okay...well review please!**

**ill update...eventually**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to you readers who have stuck by me thus far even with my neglectful habits!**

**i like this chapter, it took me, oh, four hours to write. i stocked it full of information, so it is a little much, but oh well.**

**Disclaimer: i own nothing but The Wilsons, the reptiles, and my ingenious (sp?) plot to own this movie... anywhooo**

**ON WITH THE SHOW!**

* * *

Nothing.

That's all I can see in every direction. Nothing. It's not light nor dark nor quiet nor loud. There's just, nothing.

I look around worriedly. _Where am I?_ I think.

I get this nagging feeling to run, and run. So I do.

After what felt like forever, I could hear sounds. Muddled voices and garbled words, as if I was listening to a radio station that has horrible reception.

Sirens. Yelling. Beeping.

"What's wrong with her!" one voice yells in perfect clarity. I know the voice, but I can't put a name to it.

"She's going into cardiac arrest!" an unfamiliar voice says loudly. "Get out of the way! Only one family member in the ambulance!"

"I'll go!" a feminine voice almost screams. "Alex! Call mom and then get to the hospital, Tyler call your dad right away!"

That was the last I heard before I fell back into the abyss of nothing.

**Alex's POV**

The smell of disinfectant stung my nose as I walked through the hallways of the hospital. The only things that could be heard was the beeping of heart monitors from the rooms, the quiet talking between patients and family members, the occasional sob from a few rooms, and the soft sound of my shoes hitting the floor. The sounds all came together into an odd sort of song.

When I got to room 318, I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what I would see when I opened the door.

I slowly pushed the door open with my foot, and saw what I knew I would: Casey hooked up to all kinds of different machines, with Tyler asleep in the uncomfortable plastic chair beside her bed, holding her hand in his.

I let out a frustrated sigh. This picture hasn't changed in over two weeks, with only slight changes being that sometimes Tyler was awake, or walking around the room to stretch his legs, and going to freshen up in the bathroom.

Two weeks.

It's been two weeks since the winter masquerade ball.

Two weeks since Tyler finally told Casey that he loved her.

Two weeks since her heart stopped.

When everybody got to the hospital from the various places in Ipswich, Casey and Dr Simms were already in surgery. Apparently there had been a heart that had become available not two hours before the dance, and they went right in and did the transplant.

Fortunately, her new heart started up again without a hitch.

Unfortunately, they were not able to find a healthy enough lung for her, so they had to remove her left lung. Although that isn't too bad, as a person can live with only one lung.

The doctors and nurses involved with the surgery were all so sure that she would pull through, and the large group that cluttered up the waiting room (Mom, Dad, Britt, Tyler, Pogue, Reid, Caleb, Sarah, Kate, Sierra, and myself) decided to disperse, and go home to wait for good news.

But there was only more bad news.

Although the new heart was working perfectly fine, and she was breathing without to many problems, she wasn't waking up.

After a few days being comatose, Dr Simms took her in to perform a CT Scan, and an MRI. Both were clean.

They told us that there was no scientific reason as to why she wasn't waking up.

Tyler's aunt is a brain surgeon, and came in to talk to everyone in the group about four days after the scans came up clean, and talked to us about some possibilities as to why she wasn't waking up. Among the few she talked to us about included that there was no longer any signals being sent around to the body that would help her body move, or bring her to consciousness, meaning that she is, pretty much, brain dead. Another thing she mentioned, which all of us are hoping to be right, is that it is possible that because of the trauma set to her body and mind when her heart stopped beating, that she is staying buried in her subconscious self, so as to heal mentally.

So, regardless of he stability, Tyler hasn't left the hospital since Casey has been admitted.

I walked over and shook Tyler lightly to wake him up.

He rubbed at his eyes and let out a tired breath, accepting the coffee I offered him with a tired grimace.

I sat on the chair on the opposite side of the bed, and let out a long sigh. "How's she doing' man?"

Tyler ran a hand over his haggard looking face. "Same as yesterday." His voice sounded gruff and tired.

I shook my head. "Look man, I get that you want to be here when she wakes up, but you need to take care of yourself." He looked ready to protest but I started talking again before he could, " I know that you love her Tyler. I know that, and trust me, I like you a hell of a lot better that I liked some of her other boyfriends, but you are too worried about her. The only things that could happen to her right now, is that she could wake up, or not wake up. And frankly, you staying here twenty-four-seven, it's nice and all, but do you think that she will be happy when she wakes up to know that you stayed here night and day, and neglected your own health?

"I've known Samantha all my life, and she is the kind of person that likes to put others comfort above her own. I know that sometimes she is completely selfish, and she can be a bitch, but she loves people too much to be like that all the time. She wont like the face that you aren't taking care of yourself."

"I know, Alex. Trust me, I know all that." he pushed his hand back through his hair. "But what if I lose her? I- I don't think that I could handle that."

I gave him a weak smile. "I don't know how you would handle losing her. You would have to spend a lot of time with me and Britt, considering that her and I would be pretty lost as well if Casey was gone. If we lose her, it wont be for lack of trying Tyler. It'll just mean that she wasn't meant to stay here any longer than she already has."

He had a look on his face that was so heartbroken that I didn't know what to do, so we just lapsed into silence.

After what seemed like hours of silence, Tyler stood slowly from his chair and stretched. He walked slowly towards the door, and before walking out, he stopped completely.

"Call me if there's any change Alex. I think I'll take dad up on that hotel room that he's been telling me about."

I smiled slightly at the tone in his voice. He obviously didn't want to go, but he would because he knew I was right about Casey not being impressed about his neglect towards his health.

**Casey's POV**

I groaned as I sat up, my body was completely sore from...wait. Why was my body sore?

I looked around, and frowned at what I saw.

It looked like I was in the middle of a clearing, with a really high wall made out of stone with a small wooden door in front of me, and a small dirt path leading into a forest.

I stood slowly, as the soreness in my body seemed to melt off of me. As I looked around more, it looked as if the clearing I was in went on forever on either side of me, and that the wall that stood in front of me went on for that long too. I couldn't see the end of it at all. I looked to the path and, beyond that, the forest, which went just as far as the clearing, that looked as if it were full of shadows, and unspeakable evils.

As I looked between the two walls, one of rocks and one of trees, I noticed that there were no sounds where I stood. I could hear the birds singing and the chipmunks and predators jumping from tree to tree from the woods, and I could hear the quiet gurgle from a stream and a light breeze going through what I would guess to be poplar trees from beyond the rock wall.

One side loud, and full of life.

Another side quiet and calming, with just the whispers of nature.

But as one side life could be heard, not a single animal strayed farther than the edge of the forest, and as another side water and wind could be heard, not a single blade of grass moved from a slight breeze and there was not a single split in the earth showing water.

My life had always been loud, full of fears and things that could and did go wrong. I lost my baby sister, I was told I would die before I turn twenty, I lied to my family, and I didn't find true love until it was too late. If I could never go back to it I wouldn't.

Deep down I had always craved a quiet life, one full of nothing but love and friendship. One that was so incredibly cliched that it was easy to see where it would go. Find love, get married, be successful, have kids, grow old, die as a grandmother to five.

I started to walk slowly towards the small wooden door in the middle of the long rock wall, the peaceful sound growing louder as I came closer. When I got to the door, I reached out and ran my hands across it delicately. The wood was black walnut, with a carving of a tree on it. My fingers traced the names that were written among the many branches.

I found the names of my parents, and brother and sister. They were carved elegantly, and looked brand new. My fingers traced over a name that hadn't been spoken in my household in nearly five years, and had the word _Deceased_ scrawled under it: Ruby Anne Wilson.

My little sister.

Ruby had been born almost eight years after our family moved from England to Canada. She had been unexpected and a pleasant surprise to everyone, well except for Alex who had been hoping for a brother. By the time she was two, we realized that Ruby did not have an affinity with animals like the rest of us. She was normal, and we were all kind of happy about that.

She was loved by all of us. She was our rock. If we were having a bad day, she was the one that kept us happy, or sane, because we had a baby sister to look after, and a new daughter.

Unfortunately, after Ruby turned five, she was in an accident.

We were all playing outside during the summer. Brittany and Alex were playing with their Hot Wheels in the sandbox, and me and Ruby were helping mom in the garden. Mom had to go into the house for a minute to get the flower seeds, and she told me to watch Ruby. While she was inside, I made the mistake of going over to stop Britt and Alex from fighting over one of the toys, and when I turned around, Ruby was gone.

I started yelling for her, and soon my siblings joined in. My mom came out a minute later to see me bawling my eyes out because I lost our baby sister. The next minute we heard the screech of car tires, and a thump.

Ruby died on the spot.

Our family was totally torn apart. I blamed myself, and as the rest of my family learned to live around not having Ruby, I was stuck in depression.

It was two years before I was able to break free of the depression, but I still kept the thought of Ruby at the forefront of my mind.

My fingers found my name, and I noticed that there was only my name. No _Deceased_ underneath it.

But, if I wasn't dead, then how could I be here?

Suddenly I heard a noise. Not from over the wall, or even from the forest, but from my right.

I spun to face whatever it was, and froze.

Long, curly black hair, framed a heart shaped face that had a button nose, smiling lips, and pretty violet coloured eyes. I was looking at the one person I thought I would never see again. Ruby.

My legs buckled, and I was on my knees, tears streaming down my face as I looked at the little girl that had turned into my Guardian Angel.

The small golden wings that sprouted from her shoulder blades were enough to tell me that she had stayed to watch over not only me, but my family as well.

She smiled as she walked towards me, and when she hugged me, it felt like I was being engulfed in golden sunshine. "Hello Sam." she said, in her tinkering voice.

She still had the lisp and five year old voice now as she did then, so it came out more, 'Hewow Tham', but it was the best thing I have ever heard.

"Ruby. I- I a-am s-s-s-so-o-o s-s-sor-r-ry a-ab-b-bout wh-what ha-ha-happen-ned." I couldn't control the sobs that were wracking my body, so I could barely speak.

She smiled, and I noticed then that she had tears going down her face too. "It'th otay Tham. Yoo didn't meen too. And I wath the one who wan out into the woad. It wathn't youw fawlt Thammy." she wiped the tears from my cheeks, as I did the same for her. " I wanted yoo to keep wiving happiwy wivout me, but yoo coodn't, tho I thayed." **('It's okay Sam. You didn't mean too. And I was the one who ran out into the road, it wasn't your fault Sammy. I wanted you to keep living happily without me, but you couldn't, so I stayed')**

"I'm so sorry Ruby. I should have been watching you better."

"It'th otay. I've bween wathing yoo. I know yoo awe happy wiv Tywer. And evewyone ewth ith happy wiv thewe woved oneth. Tho I no wonger ave to wath yoo, becwath I know yoo awe happy." **('It's okay. I've been watching you. I know you are happy with Tyler. And everyone else is happy with their loved ones. So I no longer have to watch you, because I know you are happy.')**

She kissed me on the cheek, and turned towards the door. As she put her hand on the door handle, her wings started to shimmer. As she opened the door a crack, her wings disappeared completely. Before going beyond the wall she turned and faced me one last time.

'Tham. It'th youw toithe wever to come in hewe to be wiv me and gwandma and gwandpa, but yoo ave to wemembew wat yoo ave back on Ewth. Wat yoo ave wiv Mommy and Daddy and Awex and Bwittny. I wov yoo Thammy, down't fowdet tat."** ('Sam. It's your choice whether to come in here to be with me and grandma and grandpa, but you have to remember what you have back on Earth. What you have with Mommy and Daddy and Alex and Brittany. I love you Sammy, don't forget that.')**

I watched as she opened the door and slipped inside the door, and into the place where she would be with the grandparents I never knew, and I knew that she would be happy. I also knew that if I went through that door, that I would never see anybody I loved down on Earth again, until it was their time to leave.

All the bad things that happened throughout my life flashed through my mind: death, disease, lies, depression.

But along with those things, came the good: understanding, friends, life, love, happiness.

Normally I would go to the quiet side, my life has been to loud and noisy and full of darkness, but if I cant make it past those, then how can I be happy beyond the rock wall?

I smiled, and traced the names of the people on the door again, before turning and walking towards the path, not looking back, and knowing that I would be back here again someday.

And when that day comes, I will be able to walk through the door without hesitation.

**Tyler's POV**

It had been three days since Alex convinced me to take a break. I still went into the hospital everyday for the duration of visiting hours, but I have been staying overnight at the hotel room that my dad owns, and have been eating more than junk food.

My mind still races when I think about how it happened.

One minute we were swaying back and forth to a song, not doing anything fancy at all, and then next, Casey goes all ridged and she falls down.

What happened between then and when my dad walked out of the OR is a blur, I was to busy panicking to notice anything.

And then, when she didn't wake up, I thought for sure that something went wrong. Even after dad took her in to scan her brain, and they came up clean, I thought that he _must _have missed something.

Soon, I started to give up hope, even after my Auntie Karen told us it was possible that Casey just retreated into her subconsciousness.

But I still couldn't leave her side.

I nodded at the nurse behind the desk as I walked towards Casey's room.

I sat down on the familiar plastic chair, and gently picked up her hand in mine.

As had become custom, I began talking to her. About how I felt about her when I first saw her. What was going through my mind the first time we kissed. How beautiful she looked at the Masquerade. How hard my heart was pounding when I told her I loved her.

"I was just looking at your face, and I just knew that it was right to say it." I said quietly. I smiled at the memory. "My heart was going so fast. I was so afraid that you would say that you didn't feel the same way. And when you took so long to respond, I was terrified that you would reject me." I chuckled at myself. "Then you said it. You said you loved me. And I knew that I wanted to be with you for as long as I possibly could.

"And I knew that I would go through hell and high waters for you if you ever needed my–" I broke off and stayed still.

I swear I felt her finger twitch as I was talking. I waited a few minutes, before shaking it off as wishful thinking.

"Anyways, I knew that I love–"

There was definitely movement that time. I know this time because her face twitched.

"Casey?" I asked quietly. "Casey, sweety? Can you hear me?"

I felt her finger twitch against my hand again.

"Case?" I was at a lose to what I could do to bring her around. "Sam? Sammy?"

There was a definite twitch there.

"You know, now that I think about it, you always did hate being called Samantha." I stopped to think about that, because she never told me why she hates being called it.

"Ty?"

My head snapped down to see Casey's ice blue eyes opened a crack, her lips open the tiniest bit. "Casey? Oh my god your okay!"

I did the only thing I could at the moment: I hugged her, and cried.

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**OOOOOOOOKAYYYYYYYYYYYY! Reviews? please?**

**constructive criticism is good!**

**I was terrified when i was writing this!**

**i was almost done my 7th page, and i JUST saved it when my computer went all wacko and shut off on me!**

**i thought for sure that i lost everything that i had just worked on ( i tell you one thing, that if i did, i would cry SOOOO HARDD)**

**luckily, it saved and i just had to retype about two paragraphs!**

**okay, School will be starting back up in a month, so im going to try and get at least two more chapters in before then!**

**again, Review?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Okay... so for those of you that have been reading this since the beginning, Thank You for sticking with this story thus far... and I am sorry to all of my readers (if I have any left) because I am horrible at sticking to update dates. So again, sorry...**

**I am sure that many of you are stoked to hear that this is my last chapter! YAY! and I can understand if nobody wants to review... but I would really appreciate it because I feel that this last chapter was really poorly written, but I kind of wanted to finish it all in one go...**

**Anywhooo... for my readers, READ ON!**

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Ever since I woke up, there has been someone at my side, be it my mom, dad, brother, sister, or one of the Sons and their girlfriends. At first it was a little overwhelming, as I wasn't sure how to react. But as the days went by, I became accustomed to it.

There had been a handful of accidents and getting in trouble, mostly caused by Reid, but those made my stay fun. One such incident was when Reid and Alex worked together to bring Aurora into the hospital to see me. When that nurse walked into the room, I thought she was going to have a heart attack. She started yelling and screaming at Reid for bringing Aurora into the hospital at all, let alone in my room. He got kicked out, but Alex wasn't even blamed.

After being stuck in the hospital for almost two months (being unconscious for half of that time), Tyler's dad was _finally_ letting me leave.

As I worked to pull on the sweat pants that Britt brought for me, I heard the door swing open and looked up. Tyler stood there with a small smile on his face. "Need some help?" he asked.

I smiled shyly at him. "Please." As he helped me stand up, my mind wandered.

Tyler was the one constant. He had been there when I woke up, and it seemed like he had never left. When I woke, he was there, and the last thing I saw before I fell asleep were his beautiful eyes. Every time I looked at him, the love that I felt for him seemed to spread throughout my entire being. The feeling made me want to jump up and hug him until he couldn't breathe.

I broke out of my thoughts when Ty waved his hand in front of my face. "Where'd you go?" he asked, with a joking smile.

I smiled lightly at him. "Just into La La Land." I sighed as I tested my weight on my feet, and walked over to the wheel-chair (stupid thing) and sat down. If it were up to me, I would be walking out of here, but Ty's dad was all 'You could fall and get hurt!', so I quit arguing just so he would shut up.

Just as Ty opened his mouth to day something, Alex walked in.

"Hey, Casey," Alex said, "you ready to go yet?" The look on his face told us that he didn't care if he had just interrupted something, but that he was happy I was getting out today.

I smiled at him. "Yeah! I'm ready to get out of this God-forsaken place once and for all!" I smiled widely at the thought that I may not have to come back to the hospital for anything but check ups.

Tyler pushed me out the door in the wheel-chair, and Alex walked slightly in front of us to the nursing station to sign my ticket to freedom. When we got outside the front doors, I threw my hands into the air and let out a shout.

"Oh it's so GOOD to be out of there!" I said, with a mirth filled laugh. I stood up and spun around to face the two boys behind me, and my face turned serious. "If I _ever_ do anything that might put me back in the hospital, slap me!" I laughed again at the feeling of freedom that had captured me. I smiled at Alex, and said, "Take me home."

His only response was to grab my hand and pull me towards the car, Tyler following us closely.

I reached my arms up above my head, and pointed my toes towards the end of my bed. That was one of the best things about any day: stretching. Just the feeling of the muscles pulling tight before loosening up, and then feeling like you don't want to move at all. I smiled as I sat up in bed, and stretched again. Today was the day that I could finally go back to school. It was Monday, February 15, and I was finally going back to school. I never thought that spending over a month in a hospital would actually make someone miss school with such a fervor. But boy, I had been home for two days, and I was just a-bouncing, excited to get back to learning from my teachers, throwing things at said teachers with Reid, having fun at lunch, and (above all) going to Nicky's with everybody. Thoughts like this flowed throughout my mind I went through my morning ritual: shower, brush teeth, fix hair, pull on clothes, and mark off another day on the calendar as I make my way out of my room.

The day went by smoothly, and I even landed myself in detention, because I didn't care if the teachers caught me throwing erasers at them. Oh life was good!.

The months passed, and I went to my monthly check-ups without fail, spent tons of time with my friends and family, spent a _lot_ of my time with Tyler, and graduated highschool. After graduation, all of our families went out for dinner (25 people!), and something incredibly surprising happened.

Just after we all ate our main courses and conversations about college and university were over, and just before dessert was brought out, the four Sons of Ipswich and Alex did something that none of us thought they would. They each turned towards their girlfriend (Pogue to Kate, Caleb to Sarah, Alex to Sierra, Reid to Britt, and Ty to me), and asked, simultaneously, "Will you marry me?"

There was a stunned silence from everyone at the table, but by the looks on the boys' faces, they had planned to all do it at the same time. I looked around me and met the eyes of the other girls, and wasn't surprised to see them all with tears in their eyes. And then, all five of us simultaneously said (or rather yelled), "YES!"

A lot of kissing was next, and the rest of the night passed in a blur.

I went to Tyler's house for the night (as my parents said 'Oh you're getting married honey, you can spend as much time over there as you want!') , and as we stood on his bedrooms balcony, I looked at him.

He looked much like the boy that I met less than a year ago, save for his eyes. His eyes were the same beautiful blue, but they held more emotions now than they did. Contentment, happiness and grief to name a few. But what over powered those emotions, something that I really liked seeing, was love. As he looked into my eyes, and I looked into his, we both seemed to understand that we really loved each other, more than anything.

I smiled at him and spoke my thoughts. "I love you, Tyler Simms."

His eyes twinkled. "I love you too, Samantha Wilson."

As we kissed, I could feel the full moon watching over us. It felt as if she were saying, "I will watch over you forever."

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**Short, I know... Now that this story is done! I have a message for you all.**

**Some of you may be acquainted with my Twilight fanfiction 'Intentions'. I would like you to know, that 'Intentions' is now up for adoption. I cannot remember where I was going with it, and I have no desire to continue with it. So if you want to adopt it, then shoot me a message and I will give you what I have.**

**So if you have stuck with this story until the end, THANK YOU!, and if not, I really can't blame you. I have learned my lesson to have all of the chapters typed out BEFORE setting the story on ... So this is the end, and I thank you one more time (thank you), and now I say goodbye.**

**BYE BYE! 3**


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